DISCLAIMER- Once again, I don't own anything but the plot.
A/N- Sorry I took so long to update. A few things came up, and I didn't get around to updating. But, I have now. I GOT REVIEWS! THANK YOU ALL SOOOOO MUCH! Some people who reviewed seemed very happy that I'm keeping the characters in character. I greatly appreciate that, and will try to keep them in character, but people do change over the years. This story does take place in the 7th year, so their personalities could be different. I'm not sure if they will still be in character later on, but you will have to keep reviewing to let me know.
Ok, now that you have been waiting, here's chapter two......
CHAPTER TWO- Draco's Secret
* * * * *
When Draco opened his eyes, his first instinct was to stand up and get off the damp floor. But when he tired to stand, a bolt of pain shot through his leg and he remembered where and why he was here. Draco looked down at his leg, and found Hermione had done a nice job. Unless he tried hard, his leg didn't move, and he wasn't in the mood to move it any time soon.
A rustling in the bush next to him told him Hermione was coming back. Sure enough, she came out into the clearing holding something in her hand. Their eyes met for a second, then Hermione moved over to a tree across from him and sat down, legs crossed.
"Oh good, you're awake. It was getting hard to wrap you up when you were out cold." She said calmly, working with something he couldn't see in the dark.
"Wrap me up?" Draco asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. You were bleeding in a bunch of different spots, although mostly on your neck. I did the best I could to cover them up." She explained, looking down at what ever it was she was doing. Draco placed his hands to the back of his neck, and sure enough, there it was. A thin strip of Hermione's shirt was wrapped around his neck. It wasn't too tight, but tight enough to keep the blood from dripping down his back. He looked at his fingers, which had also been bleeding, and found them bandaged as well. He tried moving his arm, and found it in perfect condition.
"Thanks." He managed to choke out. It's not easy apologizing to your rival.
"Yeah, well you might want to wait until morning to thank me." Hermione answered, getting up from her seat on some dead moss. She walked over to Draco's left side and plunked down again. Draco saw what she was working in was in a paper cup. What ever it was, it smelt really bad.
"What is that?" He asked, wrinkling his nose.
"Chantileum" Hermione said pulling out a stick from the cup. The stick was covered in some clear, sticky kind of paste.
"And, what the hell exactly is that Chantili-whatever crap?" Hermione sighed in annoyance.
"It's a plant I read about once. It looks like a violet, but has a more reddish tone. It has amazing healing powers." She answered, sticking her thumb into the cup and pulling it back out, covered in the goop. She moved it over to Draco face, but hesitated for a second, leaving her hand over his forehead. The fumes from the plant were intoxicating.
"This might sting a bit." She warned him, and then carefully rubbed her thumb over a gash on his forehead. It stung ALOT. Draco sucked in air to keep himself from screaming at her in rage. Hermione paused to see his reaction, then continued, spreading it evenly over the cut.
"So, where did you get the cup?" Draco asked, trying to get his mind away from the stinging and the smell. Hermione stuck her thumb back into the goop before answering.
"I found it. There's a small stream a little ways from here, and some people must have had a picnic there. They left a lot of food though." She said, applying the stuff to another cut on his cheek. Draco looked around and found a picnic basket near another bush.
'Well, at least we have food and water.' Draco thought to himself. "How long have I been out?" He asked her.
"Not long. About a half hour." She answered. "Turn your head."
Draco turned to face her so she could work on the right side of his face. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. Her face was deep in concentration, not an uncommon look for her. Draco looked away.
"So, what does this stuff do any way?"
"Well, if I mixed it right, it should close up these cuts over night. I don't think it will leave any scars, but the spots will be red for a few days. Also, if you are allergic to it, where ever I put it will swell up for five months, no more, no less." Hermione answered, and finished covering his cuts.
"Oh great. So now I have to fret about being allergic to some flower I can't even pronounce." Draco said, bitterly.
"Yeah, but look on the bright side. At least you wont have any scars. We wouldn't want to mare that BEAUTIFUL face of yours, now would we?" Hermione said sarcastilly. Draco laughed.
"Got that right." He said, smiling. Hermione looked into his face and smiled as well.
'He actually is kind of cute when he smiles.' She thought to herself. They stayed like that for a second, then realized what they were actually doing. They both looked away at the same time, their smiles gone. Hermione was going to get up when she noticed something. She sat back down and flattened Draco's shirt, unaware of the gesture. Her eyes widened when she saw large bloodstains all over his shirt, which was torn in various places.
Draco looked down at her to see what she was doing, and noticed them also. He saw that she was surprised and horrified. As he looked at them, he suddenly realized what she was going to do. Sure enough, when Hermione looked at him, her expression said enough.
"No!" Draco said angrily. Hermione narrowed her eyes. " No. It's bad enough you touched me and did Who-knows-what to me while I was knocked out, but you are NOT taking off my shirt and rubbing that shit on me. Especially not you." He spat, close to yelling. Hermione breathed in through her nose, her eyes closed.
"You sick pervert. You actually think I did anything besides help you? Why would I want to do that? And do you think I actually want to be here helping you, of all people? No. So, we are in the same position here. No, you have no choice but to cooperate. Besides, its not like there's anything there I haven't seen before. Certainly nothing special or worth bragging about." Hermione said with the same amount of spite as Draco. He snorted.
"You'd be surprised." He muttered. Hermione gave a cold laugh.
"Oh please. Now, as much as I hate to say this, and now I will live to regret it, take off your shirt." Hermione said hotly. Draco refused, and the two began a stare down. Sparks flew from each other's eyes. Normally, Draco would have continued to not give, but there was something different about Hermione now that confused him. Something he had not seen from her since their fourth year. Pure hatred. Surprised, he gave in. He sat up and pulled off his shirt, then leaned back against the tree. Its bark was scratchy, so he turned around and placed his shirt behind his back. When he looked back to Hermione, her eyes were wide again, her mouth slightly open. His mouth flickered into a grin.
When Draco took off his shirt, a few things caught Hermione's attention. One was that he had obviously been working out. Two, was that his bare chest was covered with scars defiantly NOT cause by his fall. Her mouth opened in shock and horror. When she looked into Draco's face, he was grinning, and she saw something twinkle in her eyes that she had not seen before.
"I told you you would be surprised." He whispered. His voice had a tone of humor, but Hermione interrupted the thing in his eyes to be pure sorrow. All hate for him left her as she looked back from him to his chest. The scars stood out against the blood and his sickly white skin.
"Oh my gosh. Draco, I-" Hermione said softly. She didn't know what to say, but Draco understood.
It's not me. I could never do that to myself. It's my father." He said, his voice choking. Hermione gently traced a long scar with her fingertip. Her touch tingled on Draco's skin, and it seemed to give him courage, made him trust Hermione. He swallowed and continued talking, needing to get this off his chest. (A/N- that sounds weird. no pun intended)
"He's been beating me for as long as I can remember. Any time I played with someone he didn't introduce me to, any time I was actually nice to a stranger, or worse, a muggle-no offense-, he would beat me. He told me I was spoiling the family name, and that him beating me was the right thing to do, that I would learn this way. Of course, I didn't understand when I was little, so I agreed. But then I got older, and I understood that it was wrong. Still, I played along. I managed to stay on his good side, until school started. Somehow, he found out about everything that happened at school. That's when he started using objects. A rope, his belt, bat, fork, potato peeler, anything that would leave a mark." Draco said sorrowfully. He thought he was boring Hermione, but he wasn't She was sitting there, listening to his every word, her eyes full of sorrow and pity. Her warm hand was still on his chest. Draco cleared his throat.
"After the fourth year, everything changed. Before, I at least had some reason why he was doing all that. But then, and even now, I have no idea. He just comes home and slaps me, or does something else. That's why I stopped going home for Christmas. No one noticed though. Not even Dumbledore. My mother knows, of course, but she's too scared of my father to do anything. Why do you think she always looks the way she does? Finally, I cracked. Four days ago, I fought back, and he sliced me pretty bad with the kitchen knife. That's when I decided I couldn't live any more, and well, here we are." Draco concluded. "My life in a nut shell." He added, chuckling even in the moment.
Hermione's eyes were close to watering.
"Where did he cut you?" She asked, searching over his naked chest. Draco squinted, trying to remember.
"It's all a blur, but he lunged at me with his left, so it might be on my-" But Hermione has already bounded over him and was now hunched on his right side. Sure enough, on his right side was a large gash that ran most of the length his torso. It was still pink, and parts of it had opened up in his fall. Hermione put one hand over her mouth. With the other, she carefully touched the skin near it. Draco flinched, and she withdrew her hand.
"Oh my gosh, Draco. I'm so sorry." She whispered, her voice barely audible. Draco shook his blonde head.
"Don't be. Why should you be? It's not your fault." He said, his voice back to normal.
Hermione looked him in the eyes. "For not noticing." Her voice was still very low.
"Don't worry. If you didn't notice, that means other people didn't either. I guess I did a good job hiding it. A good mask.
*pause*
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Draco shrugged.
"Who would have believed me? My word against his. Not good odds. He has a strong position in the Ministry. A lot of people are terrified of him."
"Dumbledore would have believed you." Hermione said flatly.
"One out of hundreds. Who else would believe me? Draco Malfoy, troublemaker, son of a possible Death Eater, enemy of the famous Harry Potter? Would you have believed me if you hadn't seen these?" Draco asked, referring to his scars. Hermione paused, not wanting to admit her answer.
"Couldn't you show them your scars?" She asked, trying to change the subject. "They would have to believe you then." Draco shook his head.
"He would just say I did it to myself. No matter what I do, he will win." Draco admitted. Hermione was silent, not knowing what to say. She looked back at his cut. She carefully rubbed her finger along the skin just above it. Draco flinched again, but this time she didn't pull away right away. She kept her fingers there, her skin just barely touching his.
"Does it hurt?" She asked. Draco nodded, and she removed her fingers.
"No, you're not hurting it. It just hurts in general. I can't really see it. Is it still bleeding?" He asked. Hermione looked at one spot where it had opened up. She hesitant to touch it, but carefully tapped it. The blood was dry.
"No, it's stopped. So have all the other ones." She said. Draco nodded.
"Alright. Can you put that stuff on them?" He asked. Hermione looked into his eyes. He knew it would hurt, but he didn't care. Hermione looked back down at his chest.
"Not like this. They need to be cleaned or else the flower won't be able to heal them." She told him, not daring to look him in the eyes.
"Ok. Do you need to use my shirt?" He asked. Hermione shook her head.
"No it's ok. I'll use mine." She said standing up. She bent down and picked up the shredded pile of rags that used to be her shirt, and quickly walked back into the bushes.
º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø, º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,
Draco woke when a cool breeze blew across him. He blinked a few times and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. An owl hooted and swooped past him, causing him to shiver. His shirt was still off.
Unable to go back to sleep, Draco shifted. He looked around where he was and found Hermione asleep some feet away from him. Now that everything was over, he had a chance to look at her clearly. She really had changed over the past seven years. Her hair wasn't bushy anymore, as it had straightened out on it's own. Now it was just thick, and it reached below her shoulders. Her teeth were still straight from when she fixed them in their fourth year, and her body had also changed. (everyone knows how, so no need to write it.) Over all, she wasn't the buck-toothed snob she was in their first year. Sure, she was still head of their class, and Draco was certain she had become Head Girl, but in a word she was, beautiful.
Like all girls at Hogwarts, Hermione had really started to notice guys when she was around the age of 13, but they never noticed her till she was 14. Hermione however, unlike some girls her age, never went for looks. You could be the ugliest guy in the world, but if you could keep a good conversation with her and not once mention the way she looked to get with her, Hermione would be all over you. She was the kind of girl who needed commitment, but didn't want a boyfriend who only liked her for her looks. Not many guys were able to do this, but one did, and he now was her current boyfriend, and they seemed pretty steady.
It was because of all this that Draco was feeling uncomfortable. He usually flirted with girls regardless of their status, but Hermione was different. He was actually afraid to flirt with her, intimated by her. Beauty and Brains, the perfect combination, but it were these two things that kept Draco away. Being thing close to her was overwhelming.
Draco turned away from her, thinking of something else. He wondered how they were going to get out of here. He certainly wouldn't be doing any walking, and they didn't have a wand so Hermione couldn't levitate him. He was certain she wouldn't be able to carry him. Of course, once they did get out, they also had the trouble of were to go.
Draco's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a twig snap behind him. He didn't panic, but he did freeze. He knew who it was that was there. He had been expecting them. After a few endless minutes, he sensed breathing, indicating the person was now between him and Hermione, hidden in the bushes. Draco took a deep breath, his mask back on.
"You shouldn't be here." He called into the dark, not moving an inch.
"I could kill her now." A cold voice hissed. A threat. Draco smirked.
"Go ahead. I don't care about that Mudblood." He lied. "However, once you kill here, I will be your responsibility. And we both know you can't even keep a cactus alive." There was a silence for another few minutes, then a slight movement in the bush. Draco knew the person had left. Still, he decided to keep watch, to keep Hermione safe.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: I forgot to mention a few things, so I will here.
1. Pigwigchick mentioned Draco and Hermione instantly falling for each other. I just want you to know, that they will not fall automatically in this story, it will be gradual. Draco notices the most feelings first really. Just thought I tell you that, incase you were expecting any mushy stuff soon. If that's what you want, this isn't the right story. 2. I'm not good at thinking of Chapter names, so many chapters won't be titled. After I post, if you have a suggestion for a title, you can e-mail it to me at blondbabygoddess@yahoo.com. 3. How do you make Italics and Bold letters? 4. PLEASE REVIEW! I will update soon, but if you review to tell me what you think it will be so much better. Even if you absolutely hated this chapter, or even both, please still review. As long as you tell me why or what you hated about it, I'm fine with that. So please, Review!
A/N- Sorry I took so long to update. A few things came up, and I didn't get around to updating. But, I have now. I GOT REVIEWS! THANK YOU ALL SOOOOO MUCH! Some people who reviewed seemed very happy that I'm keeping the characters in character. I greatly appreciate that, and will try to keep them in character, but people do change over the years. This story does take place in the 7th year, so their personalities could be different. I'm not sure if they will still be in character later on, but you will have to keep reviewing to let me know.
Ok, now that you have been waiting, here's chapter two......
CHAPTER TWO- Draco's Secret
* * * * *
When Draco opened his eyes, his first instinct was to stand up and get off the damp floor. But when he tired to stand, a bolt of pain shot through his leg and he remembered where and why he was here. Draco looked down at his leg, and found Hermione had done a nice job. Unless he tried hard, his leg didn't move, and he wasn't in the mood to move it any time soon.
A rustling in the bush next to him told him Hermione was coming back. Sure enough, she came out into the clearing holding something in her hand. Their eyes met for a second, then Hermione moved over to a tree across from him and sat down, legs crossed.
"Oh good, you're awake. It was getting hard to wrap you up when you were out cold." She said calmly, working with something he couldn't see in the dark.
"Wrap me up?" Draco asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. You were bleeding in a bunch of different spots, although mostly on your neck. I did the best I could to cover them up." She explained, looking down at what ever it was she was doing. Draco placed his hands to the back of his neck, and sure enough, there it was. A thin strip of Hermione's shirt was wrapped around his neck. It wasn't too tight, but tight enough to keep the blood from dripping down his back. He looked at his fingers, which had also been bleeding, and found them bandaged as well. He tried moving his arm, and found it in perfect condition.
"Thanks." He managed to choke out. It's not easy apologizing to your rival.
"Yeah, well you might want to wait until morning to thank me." Hermione answered, getting up from her seat on some dead moss. She walked over to Draco's left side and plunked down again. Draco saw what she was working in was in a paper cup. What ever it was, it smelt really bad.
"What is that?" He asked, wrinkling his nose.
"Chantileum" Hermione said pulling out a stick from the cup. The stick was covered in some clear, sticky kind of paste.
"And, what the hell exactly is that Chantili-whatever crap?" Hermione sighed in annoyance.
"It's a plant I read about once. It looks like a violet, but has a more reddish tone. It has amazing healing powers." She answered, sticking her thumb into the cup and pulling it back out, covered in the goop. She moved it over to Draco face, but hesitated for a second, leaving her hand over his forehead. The fumes from the plant were intoxicating.
"This might sting a bit." She warned him, and then carefully rubbed her thumb over a gash on his forehead. It stung ALOT. Draco sucked in air to keep himself from screaming at her in rage. Hermione paused to see his reaction, then continued, spreading it evenly over the cut.
"So, where did you get the cup?" Draco asked, trying to get his mind away from the stinging and the smell. Hermione stuck her thumb back into the goop before answering.
"I found it. There's a small stream a little ways from here, and some people must have had a picnic there. They left a lot of food though." She said, applying the stuff to another cut on his cheek. Draco looked around and found a picnic basket near another bush.
'Well, at least we have food and water.' Draco thought to himself. "How long have I been out?" He asked her.
"Not long. About a half hour." She answered. "Turn your head."
Draco turned to face her so she could work on the right side of his face. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. Her face was deep in concentration, not an uncommon look for her. Draco looked away.
"So, what does this stuff do any way?"
"Well, if I mixed it right, it should close up these cuts over night. I don't think it will leave any scars, but the spots will be red for a few days. Also, if you are allergic to it, where ever I put it will swell up for five months, no more, no less." Hermione answered, and finished covering his cuts.
"Oh great. So now I have to fret about being allergic to some flower I can't even pronounce." Draco said, bitterly.
"Yeah, but look on the bright side. At least you wont have any scars. We wouldn't want to mare that BEAUTIFUL face of yours, now would we?" Hermione said sarcastilly. Draco laughed.
"Got that right." He said, smiling. Hermione looked into his face and smiled as well.
'He actually is kind of cute when he smiles.' She thought to herself. They stayed like that for a second, then realized what they were actually doing. They both looked away at the same time, their smiles gone. Hermione was going to get up when she noticed something. She sat back down and flattened Draco's shirt, unaware of the gesture. Her eyes widened when she saw large bloodstains all over his shirt, which was torn in various places.
Draco looked down at her to see what she was doing, and noticed them also. He saw that she was surprised and horrified. As he looked at them, he suddenly realized what she was going to do. Sure enough, when Hermione looked at him, her expression said enough.
"No!" Draco said angrily. Hermione narrowed her eyes. " No. It's bad enough you touched me and did Who-knows-what to me while I was knocked out, but you are NOT taking off my shirt and rubbing that shit on me. Especially not you." He spat, close to yelling. Hermione breathed in through her nose, her eyes closed.
"You sick pervert. You actually think I did anything besides help you? Why would I want to do that? And do you think I actually want to be here helping you, of all people? No. So, we are in the same position here. No, you have no choice but to cooperate. Besides, its not like there's anything there I haven't seen before. Certainly nothing special or worth bragging about." Hermione said with the same amount of spite as Draco. He snorted.
"You'd be surprised." He muttered. Hermione gave a cold laugh.
"Oh please. Now, as much as I hate to say this, and now I will live to regret it, take off your shirt." Hermione said hotly. Draco refused, and the two began a stare down. Sparks flew from each other's eyes. Normally, Draco would have continued to not give, but there was something different about Hermione now that confused him. Something he had not seen from her since their fourth year. Pure hatred. Surprised, he gave in. He sat up and pulled off his shirt, then leaned back against the tree. Its bark was scratchy, so he turned around and placed his shirt behind his back. When he looked back to Hermione, her eyes were wide again, her mouth slightly open. His mouth flickered into a grin.
When Draco took off his shirt, a few things caught Hermione's attention. One was that he had obviously been working out. Two, was that his bare chest was covered with scars defiantly NOT cause by his fall. Her mouth opened in shock and horror. When she looked into Draco's face, he was grinning, and she saw something twinkle in her eyes that she had not seen before.
"I told you you would be surprised." He whispered. His voice had a tone of humor, but Hermione interrupted the thing in his eyes to be pure sorrow. All hate for him left her as she looked back from him to his chest. The scars stood out against the blood and his sickly white skin.
"Oh my gosh. Draco, I-" Hermione said softly. She didn't know what to say, but Draco understood.
It's not me. I could never do that to myself. It's my father." He said, his voice choking. Hermione gently traced a long scar with her fingertip. Her touch tingled on Draco's skin, and it seemed to give him courage, made him trust Hermione. He swallowed and continued talking, needing to get this off his chest. (A/N- that sounds weird. no pun intended)
"He's been beating me for as long as I can remember. Any time I played with someone he didn't introduce me to, any time I was actually nice to a stranger, or worse, a muggle-no offense-, he would beat me. He told me I was spoiling the family name, and that him beating me was the right thing to do, that I would learn this way. Of course, I didn't understand when I was little, so I agreed. But then I got older, and I understood that it was wrong. Still, I played along. I managed to stay on his good side, until school started. Somehow, he found out about everything that happened at school. That's when he started using objects. A rope, his belt, bat, fork, potato peeler, anything that would leave a mark." Draco said sorrowfully. He thought he was boring Hermione, but he wasn't She was sitting there, listening to his every word, her eyes full of sorrow and pity. Her warm hand was still on his chest. Draco cleared his throat.
"After the fourth year, everything changed. Before, I at least had some reason why he was doing all that. But then, and even now, I have no idea. He just comes home and slaps me, or does something else. That's why I stopped going home for Christmas. No one noticed though. Not even Dumbledore. My mother knows, of course, but she's too scared of my father to do anything. Why do you think she always looks the way she does? Finally, I cracked. Four days ago, I fought back, and he sliced me pretty bad with the kitchen knife. That's when I decided I couldn't live any more, and well, here we are." Draco concluded. "My life in a nut shell." He added, chuckling even in the moment.
Hermione's eyes were close to watering.
"Where did he cut you?" She asked, searching over his naked chest. Draco squinted, trying to remember.
"It's all a blur, but he lunged at me with his left, so it might be on my-" But Hermione has already bounded over him and was now hunched on his right side. Sure enough, on his right side was a large gash that ran most of the length his torso. It was still pink, and parts of it had opened up in his fall. Hermione put one hand over her mouth. With the other, she carefully touched the skin near it. Draco flinched, and she withdrew her hand.
"Oh my gosh, Draco. I'm so sorry." She whispered, her voice barely audible. Draco shook his blonde head.
"Don't be. Why should you be? It's not your fault." He said, his voice back to normal.
Hermione looked him in the eyes. "For not noticing." Her voice was still very low.
"Don't worry. If you didn't notice, that means other people didn't either. I guess I did a good job hiding it. A good mask.
*pause*
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Draco shrugged.
"Who would have believed me? My word against his. Not good odds. He has a strong position in the Ministry. A lot of people are terrified of him."
"Dumbledore would have believed you." Hermione said flatly.
"One out of hundreds. Who else would believe me? Draco Malfoy, troublemaker, son of a possible Death Eater, enemy of the famous Harry Potter? Would you have believed me if you hadn't seen these?" Draco asked, referring to his scars. Hermione paused, not wanting to admit her answer.
"Couldn't you show them your scars?" She asked, trying to change the subject. "They would have to believe you then." Draco shook his head.
"He would just say I did it to myself. No matter what I do, he will win." Draco admitted. Hermione was silent, not knowing what to say. She looked back at his cut. She carefully rubbed her finger along the skin just above it. Draco flinched again, but this time she didn't pull away right away. She kept her fingers there, her skin just barely touching his.
"Does it hurt?" She asked. Draco nodded, and she removed her fingers.
"No, you're not hurting it. It just hurts in general. I can't really see it. Is it still bleeding?" He asked. Hermione looked at one spot where it had opened up. She hesitant to touch it, but carefully tapped it. The blood was dry.
"No, it's stopped. So have all the other ones." She said. Draco nodded.
"Alright. Can you put that stuff on them?" He asked. Hermione looked into his eyes. He knew it would hurt, but he didn't care. Hermione looked back down at his chest.
"Not like this. They need to be cleaned or else the flower won't be able to heal them." She told him, not daring to look him in the eyes.
"Ok. Do you need to use my shirt?" He asked. Hermione shook her head.
"No it's ok. I'll use mine." She said standing up. She bent down and picked up the shredded pile of rags that used to be her shirt, and quickly walked back into the bushes.
º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø, º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,
Draco woke when a cool breeze blew across him. He blinked a few times and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. An owl hooted and swooped past him, causing him to shiver. His shirt was still off.
Unable to go back to sleep, Draco shifted. He looked around where he was and found Hermione asleep some feet away from him. Now that everything was over, he had a chance to look at her clearly. She really had changed over the past seven years. Her hair wasn't bushy anymore, as it had straightened out on it's own. Now it was just thick, and it reached below her shoulders. Her teeth were still straight from when she fixed them in their fourth year, and her body had also changed. (everyone knows how, so no need to write it.) Over all, she wasn't the buck-toothed snob she was in their first year. Sure, she was still head of their class, and Draco was certain she had become Head Girl, but in a word she was, beautiful.
Like all girls at Hogwarts, Hermione had really started to notice guys when she was around the age of 13, but they never noticed her till she was 14. Hermione however, unlike some girls her age, never went for looks. You could be the ugliest guy in the world, but if you could keep a good conversation with her and not once mention the way she looked to get with her, Hermione would be all over you. She was the kind of girl who needed commitment, but didn't want a boyfriend who only liked her for her looks. Not many guys were able to do this, but one did, and he now was her current boyfriend, and they seemed pretty steady.
It was because of all this that Draco was feeling uncomfortable. He usually flirted with girls regardless of their status, but Hermione was different. He was actually afraid to flirt with her, intimated by her. Beauty and Brains, the perfect combination, but it were these two things that kept Draco away. Being thing close to her was overwhelming.
Draco turned away from her, thinking of something else. He wondered how they were going to get out of here. He certainly wouldn't be doing any walking, and they didn't have a wand so Hermione couldn't levitate him. He was certain she wouldn't be able to carry him. Of course, once they did get out, they also had the trouble of were to go.
Draco's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a twig snap behind him. He didn't panic, but he did freeze. He knew who it was that was there. He had been expecting them. After a few endless minutes, he sensed breathing, indicating the person was now between him and Hermione, hidden in the bushes. Draco took a deep breath, his mask back on.
"You shouldn't be here." He called into the dark, not moving an inch.
"I could kill her now." A cold voice hissed. A threat. Draco smirked.
"Go ahead. I don't care about that Mudblood." He lied. "However, once you kill here, I will be your responsibility. And we both know you can't even keep a cactus alive." There was a silence for another few minutes, then a slight movement in the bush. Draco knew the person had left. Still, he decided to keep watch, to keep Hermione safe.
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A/N: I forgot to mention a few things, so I will here.
1. Pigwigchick mentioned Draco and Hermione instantly falling for each other. I just want you to know, that they will not fall automatically in this story, it will be gradual. Draco notices the most feelings first really. Just thought I tell you that, incase you were expecting any mushy stuff soon. If that's what you want, this isn't the right story. 2. I'm not good at thinking of Chapter names, so many chapters won't be titled. After I post, if you have a suggestion for a title, you can e-mail it to me at blondbabygoddess@yahoo.com. 3. How do you make Italics and Bold letters? 4. PLEASE REVIEW! I will update soon, but if you review to tell me what you think it will be so much better. Even if you absolutely hated this chapter, or even both, please still review. As long as you tell me why or what you hated about it, I'm fine with that. So please, Review!