Bleed

Disclaimer: Don't own it. I do own the plot though.

Summary: Hogwarts is a place of secrets...and it's two headboy and girl have their share of those...

*

Narcissa backed away from the door, her hand covering her mouth. She took a few steps backward, and waited for her eardrums to work again. The shrieking was growing rapidly, and the thudding of her heart kept her alert. She reached into her robes, and took out a wand, pointing it to herself.

"Inviso."

Precious few witches and wizards knew that charm, and it took lots of good magic behind it for it to work. Narcissa's body quickly vanished, and she creaked open the door, walking in. Her ex-husband was tying a handkerchief around Hermione's struggling mouth, and his large boned friend was staring at them dumbfoundedly.

Narcissa sneaked over to Hermione and squatted down next to her, and touched her hair. Hermione's mouth formed into a muffled scream, but Narcissa patted her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"It's me, 'Mione, be quiet, it's only me, Narcissa, that's right, sweetie, it'll be alright..."

Comforting Hermione was a big step. She was squirming, cordlike strings attached around her robes, and a large gash on her forehead was shown, gleaming in red. But as soon as Narcissa's fingers ran through her hair and her hand covered Hermione's, Hermione stopped shaking, but continued her process of breathing hurriedly.

"Mmmph Mmmmsh," Hermione prompted, her voice muffled.

"Hush, hon, if I know Lucius, he will leave and have a break. Of course, he'll leave a guard, but I wouldn't worry about that," she replied, with mild amusement in her voice. They both looked pointedly over at Crabbe, who was humming a soft tune under his breath.

Sure enough, after about a few moments of sitting, Lucius began to grow very impatient.

"Crabbe! You guard the little wrench. I'll be back after lunch, to end the deal."

Deal, what deal? Narcissa's worried expression grew as she saw Crabbe laughing cheerily, as Lucius fingered his wand lovingly before shutting the door behind him.

"Okay, you stay here, I'll be right back."

"Mppph," came Hermione's muffled protest.

Narcissa tip toed over to where Crabbe was standing. She snorted. She had met his son at school, and he wasn't better than his father. She pointed the wand at him lazily, and murmured a mere incantation, which made him fall on the floor, with no movement at all.

As she hurried over to Hermione again, and took the handkerchief away from her mouth, Narcissa saw a smile on the girl's face.

"Petrificus Totalus, right?"

Narcissa grinned in return.

*

"What did you get on the Transfiguration Exam?"

"I think I failed. McGonagall gave me this sort of glare as she passed by...I was supposed to turn into a pig, but I got the ears wrong."

Harry snorted. "I'm pretty sure I passed. You want some late night Qudditch Practice? We have some time left before we have to get to bed."

Before Ron could reply, Ginny Weasley came down the stairs, in her long, shabby blue nightgown, hurrying over to where they were sitting. Ron's face became immediately concerned.

"What's wrong, Gin?" The last time he had seen his little sister act like this was in their second year, when the Chamber of Secrets had been opened, and she was about to reveal hidden information. Ginny's face grew pale, and she glanced over at Harry, who looked back at her expectantly.

"I...kind of walked into Hermione's private dorm, it was open, you see, and I needed to talk to her anyway, but ...she wasn't there. So I figured she'd gone somewhere else, but after I checked her bathroom, the library, and almost all the Girl's Dorms, I couldn't find her...so I went to her room again, to see if she had left a note or something. But all I found was this..."

Ginny reached into the pocket and took out what looked to Harry like dust. It was powdery blue, and it looked oddly familiar...

"Floo powder," Ron breathed.

"Where would she go? Who would she be with," Harry started, but then his voice cracked easily, and a look of horror dawned upon his face.

He muttered something strange, that sounded amazingly like "Malfoy" and stormed out of the common room, his robes flying behind him.

*

"What did you do to her, Malfoy?"

Harry had lunged for his robes, and Draco was now crashed into the wall, looking at Harry with an odd look on her face.

"How'd...how'd you find out? She told you?" he asked, a rushing disbelief going through his face. Harry's eyebrows shot up.

"What? She's gone, Malfoy...how could she tell me? Tell me what?"

"She's...what? What? But..."

Harry let go of Malfoy's robes. "Wait a minute. What're you talking about?"

Draco gave him a glare. "About yesterday. Yesterday night. When we slept together, you dumbass. But, how could she just leave like that? How? And why would she tell you what happened between..."

He didn't get to finish. Harry's hand wrapped around his throat, and in seconds, he was choking. "You son of a bitch. Little Malfoy always gets what he wants, doesn't he? And you had to fuck her, you little bitch. I'm going to make her mine, once and for all. There's no competition, Malfoy. Hermione and I've been friends for seven years, nearly. You'd better know that by Graduation, there's going to be a shining ring on her finger. And it's not going to be yours."

He smashed him onto the wall once more, before walking away. Draco's hands swept over his neck, which was extremely aching. Damn you potter, he thought bitterly. He grinded his teeth, and felt his fists clenched. He had never been so pissed off in his life. He was tired of Potter getting everything, having the perfect life, being the little hero, the Boy-Who-Lived, who had two best friends that would die for him. He was tired of the fame he got for being Gryffindor's Golden Boy, and the Gryffindor Qudditch Captain, and the famous Seeker that would play for England soon after Hogwarts.

He was tired of it. He was sick and tired of being the evil guy that everyone stays away from, the rich little boy that was a spoiled brat. He was tired of being a Slytherin, and being Daddy's little boy.

I'm going to make her mine, once and for all.

Draco went over these words, a wince set on his face. Of all the years at Hogwarts he spent amusing himself over tormenting Hermione Granger, Head Girl, Gryffindor's Golden Girl, goodie-two shoes mudblood that beat him in every exam, and every grade he got, and the way he liked to abuse her to make her do what he wanted, he had never felt so awkward as he did when she had announced she was impregnated by his child. It was unbelievable, something like this would be in a movie, not in real life. He had been lusting after her ever since he'd seen her on the Hogwarts Express in the beginning of sixth year, wearing her uniform, pulling on her robes. She didn't know he was watching her change, but it was the most strangest sensation of his life. Watching her undress, and redress again. She had a slim, beautiful figure. Ever since the Yule Ball, Draco had admitted that Hermione could be pretty when she wanted to, but that didn't change the fact that she was in fact, a mudblood. His father would never approve. But he didn't give a damn about his father, because as he had watched her undress, he knew he wanted her. Wanted her for a whole night, to himself. To touch, to feel, to kiss. He had tried many times to set a civil conversation with her, but he always ended up messing it up, by tormenting her about her muggleborn parents and how she was so devoted to her work. How could he have done that, how could he have put her through teasing, pregnancy, and cheating on her beloved boyfriend? Sure, Draco was a bad person, that was accurate, but he didn't consider himself pure evil. He did have a little good inside of him, and sometimes those good emotions slipped out of his reach and went out in public. When he had slept with Hermione, it wasn't like the other girls. Sure, she was inexperienced and it sure wasn't the best lay he had ever had, but she was responsive, hesitant, innocent, and passionate. She was shy, on the sensitive side, and she knew exactly what to do, even though she had only slept with one other boy. Potter. How did it feel like for her to bed him? Was he better than him? Instead of sex, did she call it "making love" while referring to their sex life? Was it better when you were in love, anticipating the moment, or was it better when you were lusting after each other in heated passion, fantasizing about each other in sacred dreams and day dreams? Many questions like this ran through Draco's mind, each one coming up with different answers. He sighed, wondering where Hermione would go, but his mind was too occupied with other thoughts, like what Potter had said. It was obvious Potter was in love with her, would die for her, would give anything for her, but did Hermione seem the same?

You better know there's going to be a ring on her finger by Graduation, and it's not going to be yours.

Somehow, Draco thought Hermione loving Potter was getting more possible by the second.

*

"Harry, stop getting all mushy on me, I'm fine. Feeling a bit sick, but pregnancy has that, you know," Hermione teased.

Narcissa smiled. "I'll bid you two goodnight. I need to get myself some sleep also, and I somehow don't fancy to sleep on an armchair in the Gryffindor Common Room. G'night."

"Thank you again," Harry prompted. Narcissa smiled meekly at him before leaving the common room.

"Oh God, I'm just glad that's over. It was so scary..."

Her boyfriend nodded, then frowned. "Er- Mione, I need to ask you something, and I need the complete honest truth."

"Okay," replied Hermione, in a tone of nervousness.

"Did - did you sleep with Malfoy again?"

There it was, the question blunt, right there, for Hermione to answer.

Sleep with Malfoy. The words ran through her mind. A small smile erupted her face, remembering the first time she had slept with him. She was ordered to tutor him in Transfiguration, before he failed. Her job was to study with him after classes for a half hour in the Library so he could pass his exams. Instead of the weekly torment she expected, Malfoy had been patient and actually, a bit kind. He of course, remarked her on insults, but she expected nothing less. He was a bit gentle, and his insults grew less tiresome everyday. But something was wrong. It had started on their third week, where Draco had mastered the basic steps of the simple form of Transfiguration. Their heads bumped into each other as Hermione corrected his homework, and there it was. The rush. The rush coming to her head. The tingles running through her legs. The same feeling she had in her fifth year with Harry, when they had started going out. Except this time, it was a bit different, and much more difficult. Hermione tried to ignore the rush, wishing for it to go away, but it stayed, and stayed for many months, until she had finally given up, and let the rush flow into the night of their unexpected bedding.

The she glanced at Harry, how serious his face looked, and wanted to break down crying. They had been through so much together. The sorcerer's stone, the Chamber of Secrets, Sirius, the Yule Ball, the Tri-wizard Tournament... She loved him so much, like a brother, like a husband. He made her happy, and content, as if nothing was going to be wrong ever again. She loved him. She wanted him to be in her life, forever. She never wanted to forget him. Never. Their relationship could never break, for the force of friendship and the following building years of romance had tied a strong bond too hard to break. It was too much to give up on, just because a fantasy of her worst enemy had gone into a nightmare. It was too tight to be broken, just because of a mistake. She wanted to have everything simple again, she wanted to be in Harry's arms, and feel it go all right again.

The smile vanished from her face.

"No, of course not, how could you think that?" She felt awful lying, but she knew she had no other choice.

Harry's face broke into a grin, and he placed a kiss on her lips. The same tingling spread through her mouth and as he released her, he did the very thing that Hermione was dreading and anticipating all these years.

He got down on one knee.

And he proposed.

*

I'm so sad, the story's almost over!!! *sniff* I love this story, and I loved the reviewers, but it has to end sometime, so I guess the ninth chapter (which is next) is going to be the epilogue. I'm sorry for the Draco/Hermione fans, but there's a lot more angst where that came from.

Remember to review,

Love,

-Court