Author's Note: Uhm...I think it's fair to warn you of what to expect in this chapter...some 'domestic disturbance' so consider yourselves warned. I am not particularly at ease writing this chapter, but it was the only way I know how to communicate what Draco's real relationship was like with his father. I know it's been done numerous times in previous fics featuring Draco Malfoy, but in my fics the only show of violence was that little rustle Draco had with Harry and Ron...

Disclaimer: Ya'll already know what this stands for

Summary: Draco & Hermione were suppose to start their 7th year at Hogwarts as a couple, but due to a misunderstanding the previous year that dream soon crumbled and now they are to start their 7th year picking up the pieces of their tattered lives...

Setting: 7th Year

~*~*~*~*~

X. Lucius's Warning

Draco received an unexpected visit nearing the holiday season when the third year students and up from Hogwarts were given their usual Hogsmeade weekend. He was, as usual, found in the company of the Gryffindor Quidditch team captain and enjoying a good conversation with him when they were stopped en route back to the castle by the tall shadow that of Lucius Malfoy.

"Father!" Draco exclaimed in surprise, his gray eyes darting back and forth between his father and the boy with him. "W-what are you doing here?"

Lucius's face was unreadable, and the hairs at the back of Draco's neck started to stand up. He knew that look. He has learned to dread that look. He knew his father far too well to be able to tell when he was pissed and when he was livid. Right now that blank look on his face meant he was livid.

"Draco." his voice came out cold, much colder than the weather at Hogsmeade today. He raised an eyebrow as he looked down at Harry, his upper left lip twitching in a smirk that matched Draco's. "Harry Potter. Fancy seeing you here talking to my son." he sneered.

Harry matched the older Malfoy's glare, not the least bit perturbed about his stature and bravely replied, "I didn't know it's a crime to talk to your fellow schoolmate about a certain school project. Especially if they happen to end up working together as a team."

"Is that so?" Lucius voice sent frostbites all over Draco's body. He knew that tone. Lucius knew Harry was lying, giving him a made-up story to cover-up their friendship.

"Father, you still haven't told me why you're here in Hogsmeade." Draco interrupted then before things could get worse.

Lucius tore his gaze from Harry and looked at his son, his gaze sending a silent message to his stubborn son about the real reason why he was there. He knew which weekend Hogwarts students go to Hogsmeade and he made a special trip from home to intercept his son before he returned back to school.

"I am hearing things about you, Draco. And I came to Hogsmeade today to talk to you about it. Would you mind walking with me? I'm sure you and Mr. Potter here would be able to catch up on your project later."

"Of course." Draco nodded without much further ado, "Lead the way, Father." he urged Lucius to move on ahead then turned to his companion, "This will take a while, Potter. Just remember what we talked about and I'll see you back in school."

Harry looked as though he was about to say more, but Draco gave him a shut-up-and-go glare before turning his back and fell behind his father's brisk steps.

~*~

"How dare you disobey me, boy!" Lucius's hand connected with Draco's pale cheek, smacking him hard on the face and sent his soon reeling backwards against the wall of one of Hogmeade's fine establishment.

"Disobey you in what way, Father?" Draco spat out as soon as he got back to his feet.

"You socializing yourself with the Mudblood and befriending Potter." he sneered, towering over his seventeen year old son's six foot two frame (a/n: I'm not really sure how tall Draco is so I'm making his height up--and besides, I'm a sucker for tall guys with sexy accents and even sexier bodies...eyes...voice...uh...well, you get the gist, right? *winks*), "I told you, Draco. I told you numerous times to bed the damn Mudblood and be done with her!"

"Well, Father, unlike you, some people know the meaning of respect and how to treat women properly, so if you have nothing better say, I suggest that you shut your fucking mouth and let me live my life the way I see it fit!"

Lucius was slightly taken aback by his son's audacity of talking back to him.

"How dare you speak to me like that, lad?" he asked calmly, but Draco saw the way his hand resting on his black cane twitch. It gripped the handle tightly, a sign that Lucius would be using that blasted metal cane of his to smack some sense into Draco's head.

"I dare as I please, Father." Draco took a tentative step backwards just as a precaution in case Lucius decided to strike him.

"Is that so?" Lucius straightened up to his full six foot eight height (a/n: again I am not entirely sure how tall these characters are and since this is a product of my very own imagination--the plot anyway--I am giving them my desired heights for 'em! *lol*), "Then this should teach you a lesson."

Draco knew what was to come. His gray eyes watched as Lucius lifted his cane into the air and swung his arm backward before Draco felt the pain inflicted by the steel-metal cane hit him on his torso, sending him staggering sideways in pain. But Lucius wasn't finished with him yet. He lifted his arm again and hit his cowering son with his cane over and over until Draco was lying on the snowy ground. He stood beside him, kicked Draco once or twice on the stomach so he would roll on to his back and look up at his father.

"Let this be a warning to you, lad. Sever your ties with that blasted Potter and stop this nonsense of you fucking that blasted Mudblood! I thought when you slept with her last Christmas it has cured you entirely off her, but seems like you couldn't seem to keep your hands off that filthy bitch." he crouched down beside his son, his eyes glaring down at him and his tone became chillingly livid, much more livid than before, "I promise you this, Draco, if you don't put a stop to this nonsense with you and that damn Mudblood, she will pay a very high price." he pushed himself back to his feet and fixed his robe, dusted some fallen snowflakes off it before turning his back to walk away from his bloodied and bruised son. Nearing the end of the alley where Lucius led his son to, he stopped and turned to look back at his son who now managed to sit up and leaned against the wall. "And Draco, not only your Mudblood will suffer my wrath. Sever your ties with Potter or he too shall pay the price of befriending you with his life."

~*~

Draco managed to find his way back to Hogwarts by nightfall. He limped almost halfway back from the alley where his father left him. Lucius's hit were harder this time around, hitting him on the back, on the side, on his thighs and legs. It was by sure dumb luck that he could still walk. His face didn't miss getting well acquainted with his father's favourite cane. Once or twice he felt the cold, hard metal against his cheek when he tried to duck away from Lucius's maniacal attack.

He decided to skip dining in the Great Hall and headed straight towards the Slytherin dungeon. Although the feast was just starting when he arrived, still, he didn't want anybody to see his face bloodied and his clothes dishievelled. He was walking briskly past the Great Hall doors when he collided with the softest thing in the whole world to cushion his fall.

"Ooof!" Hermione gasped when Draco pummeled himself into her in his haste to escape the Great Hall undetected. She instinctively wrapped her arms around him and staggered backwards due to the force of their collision. She lost her footing and they both fell on the floor, with Draco landing on top of her. She was winded for a couple of seconds before she became oriented again. She looked down at the person who just run her over and couldn't believe her luck when she recognized Draco's blond head resting on her chest.

"Draco!" she hissed irately and started pushing him off her. She started to get up, but Draco's weight was too much for her. "Draco, get off me!" she demanded, shoving him aside.

It took Draco a couple of seconds before he regained equilibrium once again. He shook his blond head and blinked a couple of times, orientating himself of his surrounding and of whom he just ran in to. He felt a pair of soft hands poking him on the shoulder and a familiar female voice telling him to get up. He waited a couple of seconds then braced his hands on either side of the girl. He lifted his face from the soft cushion of her ample breasts and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, Mione." he mumbled as he tried to push himself up and off her, but he was still weakened after his father's attacks on him.

"Oh my God!" Hermione gasped in alarm and she cupped his face in her hands. "Oh Draco..." she cooed and examined his bruised cheek, his bloodied lips, tracing her fingers against his cracked lips before her loving eyes turned back to meet his gaze, "What happened?" she asked worriedly.

"My--my f-father..." Draco was having a hard time speaking. He was too tired from the long walk he endured back to the castle after he was abandoned at Hogsmeade, and in his condition nevertheless!

"Oh jeez..." Hermione hissed and working on pure adrenaline she pushed herself up off the floor and hauled Draco up as well, looping his arm over her shoulders she led him back upstairs to the Gryffindor tower.

"Where are we going, Mione?" he asked, "This isn't the way back to the Slytherin dungeon."

"I know this isn't. But there's no way I'm going to go down to that dungeon. I'm taking you to Gryffindor tower to recuperate. I can't very well take you to the hospital wing. I'm sure word will travel fast that a black and blue--not to mentioned bloodied--Draco Malfoy was taken to the hospital wing." she told him sternly as she helped him up the stairs. "Now don't waste your energy asking too many questions."

~*~

Draco passed out by the time they reached the Fat Lady's portrait. He missed the smirk the portrait sent his way when Hermione stood before her, uttering the password and questioning why she brought a Slytherin to the tower. Of course Hermione had to tell the Fat Lady the truth but forced her to secrecy about Draco's presence in the tower.

Hermione took him upstairs to the girl's dormitory, set him down on her bed and started the process of removing his robe which was filthy by all standards as far as she was concerned. God she'd have to do some major washing in the bathroom just to clean the filth on Draco's robe!

Since everyone was still in the Great Hall enjoying dinner, she snuck in to the boy's dormitory and stole Harry's Invisibility Cloak and hide Draco underneath it as he slept on her bed. She scribbled a quick note for Harry explaining to him that their 'mutual friend' needed the cloak and she would return it to him as soon as possible. Once she had Draco underneath the cloak and her blanket, she then went into the bathroom and soaked a piece of cloth with warn water. She returned and sat on the side of her bed, she started wiping the dried blood off his lips and inspect his face for any more smear. Everything looked good, except for that purple bruise on his cheekbone where something hard hit him there.

Draco mentioned something about his father before she led him upstairs to the Gryffindor tower. That got Hermione thinking. What could his father possibly have to do with what happened to him?

Assured that Draco was already fine and comfortable, she changed into her nightgown and slipped underneath the blanket beside him. She pulled down the curtains of her four-poster bed to hide her from her roommates.

She remained awake for hours, watching Draco and stroking his soft blond hair. Even in his sleep he looked troubled. Every now and then he'd wince and groan, hissing something she could not understand under his breath. She was forced to put a spell on him just so he wouldn't be heard by his roommates who soon started coming back from the Great Hall. She was grateful they were all understanding when they saw the curtains of her bed were drawn down, concealing her from their prying eyes. It was a sign that she was already fast asleep and to not be disturbed. She listened to them chatter for a while before slowly, one by one, they bid each other good night.

Hermione still hasn't fallen asleep. She remained wide awake and watched her 'patient,' wondering what really happened to him and how Lucius Malfoy fit in to the picture. She was surprised when she saw his face after their collision earlier. She thought her eyes were just playing tricks on her when she saw bloodstains on his lips, but as she looked closer she noticed that it wasn't just a trick but in fact blood has dried up on his cracked lip!

"Oh Draco Malfoy, I love you so much you stupid git. But I'm afraid of having my heart broken again." she whispered before planting a kiss on his forehead.

~*~*~*~*~

to be continued...

A/N: well here's chapter 10! hmm...much longer than most of my previous chapters that DOESN'T have any "action" happening between Draco and Hermione! *lol* Uhm...well, what do you people think?! Please review--thanks!!!

Jesika: thanks for reviewing and I did check out your fic. I left my mark there too.

Sighhhhh: Thanks for liking the fic. And...well, I'm working on having Draco and Hermione get together in this fic a whole lot sooner, but of course it won't be too easy for them to get together. *lol*

Slytherin's Angel: I can't wait to read this fic you're working really hard on. Let me know when it's already up and running, okay?

Loki: Thanks. I am taking this fic towards the direction I have envisioned...well actually, what I thought of when I started this fic ain't the direction it's headed for right now! *lol* But oh well...

merzy34: well here's the next chapter

Potterfan: in the books Hermione and Draco get together for reals? hehehe hmm...not a bad idea *grins*

Crazykid2586: Yeah, I checked it out already earlier and left my mark in your reviews...hehehe, and...well, we'll see what happens after they got it on again *lol*

Angela: I think it'll take a while before Hermione truly believes Draco, but in the meantime I think they'll just have to be content getting it on every now and then *lol*