A New Kind of Enemy

Summary- The gang is seventeen now and in their seventh year at Hogwarts.  Voldemort is gone, along with the majority of the deatheaters, including Lucius Malfoy.  Hermione has been dating Victor Krum ever since the Yule Ball in their fourth year, and has fallen deeply in love with him.  But sometimes people surprise you, and arnt who you though they were.  Hermione discovers this about two people, two people she has known for the greater part of her life, and two people who will be working on two opposite extriemes, one trying to save her, and one trying to destroy her. 

Disclaimer- I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, or anything related to the Harry Potter world.  Ms. Rowling has the pleasure of that.

Spoilers- Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone,

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Pairing- Hermione Granger / Victor Krum at first, but will be a Hermione Granger / Draco Malfoy

~

After preparing the final details of the dance, Hermione and Draco presented it all to Professor Dumbledore, who smiled kindly and in turn announced it to the rest of the school.

News about the upcoming ball was the latest thing, and everyone was determined to get it just right.

After accepting to be Dracos' date, she started wondering what they should go as.

"Draco?" Hermione asked one night in their common room; Draco looked up from his muggle studies book.

"Yea?" "Well," She faltered a little, this was Draco Malfoy! She still didn't understand why she had said yes to him, not to mention why he even asked her in the first place, but she was excited all the same.

"Well, um, what are we going to the ball as?" Draco looked at her a second, then grinned

"I have an idea..How about we go as Estella and Phillip?" Draco saw the confused look in her eyes and continued quickly. "Well, not THEM exactly, but dress like them, 17th, or 18th century? You know, you could wear one of those big frilly dresses you women go nutso for, and I could wear one of those debonair and mysterious cloaks." He winked at her. "You know you want to." Hermione laughed,

"That's a really good idea, Draco! I never thought you had it in you!" He smiled at her and went back to his homework.

The next day was the Hogsmeade trip. Hermione sighed. "I'm going to have to tell Harry and Ron about this sooner or later." Hermione was not looking forward to telling her best friends that she was going to the Halloween ball with their biggest enemy.

"Hi Harry, Hi Ron!" Hermione walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down, grabbing some breakfast before their trop to Hogsmead.

 "Hi Hermione." They said. Hermione smiled, then said,

"So who do you two plan on asking to the dance?" Ron blushed "Lavender asked me this morning, and Ginny asked Harry right after, are you girls plotting something?" Hermione giggled, and Harry asked,

"Who are you going with?"

"Oh," Hermione said, with a wave of her hand, trying to make the impression that it wasn't a big deal.

"Draco asked me a few nights ago, you know, the whole head boy head girl thing." She looked at her two friends, who had their mouths hanging open.

"What?" She asked innocently.

"What?? It's Malfoy!!" Harry said, a bit temperamentally.

"Yea," said Hermione, feeling a little annoyed, "And I'm Hermione." Harry looked like he was going to say more, but Ron stopped him.

"Harry," He said, much to Hermione's surprise. "Harry, he actually has been civil to her, he hasn't given me a reason to curse him yet!

"Harry looked at Ron, then to Hermione, then finally said-

"Ron's right, I guess, just you be careful! Wait! What will Victor say?" Hermione's mouth opened into a little 'o' and tears threatened to sting her eyes, but she remained calm.

 "I'm sure Victor wont mind; He doesn't even know we are having a dance." She said confidently, and left it at that.

"Come on guys, a whole day of Hogsmeade is waiting!"

Later that afternoon Hermione was busy doing into different costume shops, looking at different dresses. Harry and Ron where more then willing to help, considering the dresses of the period she was interested in left a lot of room for a lot of cleavage.

"What do you guys think of this one?" She asked, stepping out of the dressing room, and by the looks on their faces, she had a winner.

The dress a dark blood red, with black and gold trim. It had a very (very very) low neck, which exposed much of what she usually would have covered. The black and gold trim intertwined into strangely beautiful patters around all the hems, from her neck line, to the long bell sleeves, and the trim at the end of the dress ended with a majestically royal train. All throughout the mesmerizing red, faint glitters of gold intertwined through the dress. The back of the dress was a cris cross, and was tied so that at the waistline it made her small waist even smaller, and it built up to push her breasts up profoundly. The dress looked as though magic had been used to make it (and considering that this was Hogsmeade, magic probably was involved) it shown and accented everyone of Hermione's' curves, and she glowed in it.

Hermione looked at herself in the mirror and was mesmerized. She did not look like Hermione Granger. Bookworm extraordinaire. Top student and Head girl of Hogwarts. She looked like a true princess.

She turned back to the boys. "Well?" Hermione asked, suddenly feeling self couscous, why went they saying anything?

"Hermione!" Harry said. "G- gorgeouss." Was all that Ron could sputter out.

"Wow Mione." Harry said, starting to snap out of it. "Wow, you look, I don't know! You look like a goddess or something." Hermione giggled at Harry's corny choice of words. Ron kept his eyes on her. "Hermione, you better tell us if Malfoy tries anything with you, you look like a veela!

"Ha-ha, Hermione, you might want to tell me if RON tries anything with you." Harry said in an amused tone, and glanced at Ron, then down. Hermione did the same and covered her mouth to keep from dissolving into a fit of giggles, and then Ron followed suite, and immediately grabbed a garment of the clothes rack beside him and placed it firmly on his lap,

"Seems as though Ronny Junior wanted to pay you a visit Herm." Harry said, his eyes laughing. Ron tried to defend himself, and say something insulting back, but one look at Hermione and he couldn't think of anything, well, he could think of something.. Finally he just started laughing along. What a sight they made, Harry leaning against a far wall, holding his stomach and laughing hard, Ron, with a cat suite draped over his lap, laughing, and Hermione, looking like the Goddess Athena herself, giggling in a stunning ball room gown.

Still laughing at Rons misfortune, Harry tuned to Hermione and said "You should get that one, Hermione, you really do look beautiful, ask Ron!" Hermione giggled again and said, thanks you guys, this kinda means a lot to me, although I don't know why." She turned around and went back into the dressing room, leaving a very bewildered Ron and Harry thinking

 "Hermione doesn't like Draco.does she?"

Ten minutes later the three friends where walking out of the costume shop and Ron said,

"Hey guys, I could really use a butterbeer, whadda ya say?" Hermione and Harry nodded, and followed Ron into the tavern, and made their was to a booth.

"So Hermione." Ron said, after settling down with their butterbeers.

 "What made you decide to go with Malfoy?"

 "Well," she said, sort of embarrassed. "He asked, basically. He asked and said it would be a nice touch considering we are the Head boy and girl, you know?" Harry and Ron nodded, although they looked a bit concerd. Hopefully Hermione wasn't getting into anything she couldn't get herself out of.



At dinner, later that night, Hermione, Ginny, and Lavender where all talking excitedly about the upcoming events, and Hermione insisted that the girls all got ready together, scence she had the biggest bedroom and bathroom, and she needed a lot of help to make sure the cris crosses in her dress where just right. Ginny and Lavender squealed in delight as Hermione told them about the magical shower, and all the scents they could choose from.

"Did I hear something about showers?" Said Harry with interest.

"Yeah." Ron added, "Talking about taking one without us?" Hermione and the other girls laughed, and for once, a comment like that didn't bother Hermione. She was surrounded by friends, and people who loved her. Hermione excused herself, and told everyone she had homework she needed to do, and was met with the usual groans.

 "Bye guys!" Hermione waved, and dashed off out of the great hall.

Hermione was walking along the great hallways of the castle, on her way to the Gryffindor tower, when suddenly a hand caught her from behind. She half screamed in fright before the hand made its way to her mouth and covered it. She fearfully turned around, and there he was.

"Victor! How did you? Why did- how did you get here? You can't aparate!" Hermione sputtered trembling sentences, and Victor punched her square in the stomach.

 "I have other ways of aparating, Hermione dear." He said with a sneer. "I would have thought a smart witch like you would realize that by now. I have been watching you, but this is it." He glared at her, daring her to say anything.

"Victor, I-" He slapped her hard across the face. "Woman are to be seen and not heard!" He hit her again on the ear, and again on her jaw, again and again, until she was down on the ground, sobbing. "Get up." He said curtly, and Hermione obeyed. Her body was not her own anymore. She was Victors little rag doll. She looked at his hard, unfeeling eyes. She tried to take this moment to run, maybe if she could make it back to the Great hall..

"You damn mudblood! Don't you dare run away from me!" Hermione looked in horror as Victor marched up to her and cornered her. "There." He said with a self-satisfied sneer. "No where to go, Mione. Best just give up now." Hermione whimpered.

 "What do you want?" "I want what's mine, Hermione. I want you, and that damn Malfoy won't get his way with you." Hermione looked at him, shocked that he knew. "You know that's all he wants, right? He wants in your pants! Yes! Yes Hermione, cry! You see he's not here to comfort you, but I am! He's not interested in a filthy little mudblood like you, and he's told you so many times, why didn't you listen to him before? Why do you think he's nice to you now? Now that you look like a nice, easy little whore, he wants to get off on you, you know what right? He just wants in your pants, and then he'll leave you. He will leave your sorry ass and you'll come crawling back to me! Some witch! You're so fucking stupid Hermione, I can't believe you!"

Hermione curled up into a little ball and was crying softly. Why was Victor hurting her, he loved her! Victor kicked her on her arm. "Get up." He said again. Hermione did. Victor shoved her against a hard stone wall, and Hermione hit her head and started feeling faint. She felt his hands rubbing her breasts,

"No feeling," She thought. "His eyes show no feeling." He looked at her like an animal, his eyes where wild.

"Why did you disobey me Mione?" Hermione cringed as he used her nickname. "I told you to stay away from those friends of yours too, but you went to his fucking house! You fucking smart ass whore! Did you think I wouldn't know? Thought I wouldn't find out? You thought wrong sweetheart." He threw her down on the ground. "I don't want to hear about you being a bad girl anymore. With that, she spat on her and disappeared.

~

Hermione was doing her homework on the rosewood desk in her room, she would have done it in the common room, but Draco was in there, she couldn't let him see her like this. She had managed to get passed him hiding behind the stack of books she was carrying.. She had been doing her arithmancy for nearly two hours, but could not seem to get anything accomplished. Horrific memories crashed through her mind, and she could not control them. Giving up doing her homework, she got up, changed and got into her king sized four-poster bed. It was very lovely and comfortable, and after sinking into the down mattress she fell into a fitful sleep.

Hermione dreamt of Victor, how could she not? His face was haunting, he was holding her down and hitting her, Hermione was screaming for him to let her go, screaming and screaming and screaming.

"Hermione! Hermione! Wake up! Wake up! You're having a nightmare! Hermione wake up!" Hermione opened her eyes and stared into Draco Malfoys deep silver ones. She coward back into the far corner of her bed.

"Stay away! Don't look at me." She turned her head in shame, but looked back at Draco. Draco sat on the very edge of her bed, giving her space.

"Hermione?" He said softly, "Hermione, I think we need to talk." Hermione got out of the corner of her bed and came into a light cast by the mood, and that's when Draco saw the marks.

 "Hermione! What did you do?" Hermione looked down at her hands, unable to talk. Draco climbed into the bed, closer to her and put his hand on her shoulder, to his surprise, she let him, and he put his arm around her.

"Hermione?" He looked at her. Her beautiful eyes, it looked like they lost all their light. "Hermione, you need to tell me."

"He loves me Draco.." She said in a small voice, a voice like a Childs.

"Who does?" He answered quickly.

 "He loves me Draco, he's only doing this because he loves me, and I just make him angry sometimes. I shouldn't make him angry anymore. I need to be a good girl." Hermione was saying all of this very softly, and Draco rubbed her back. He could feel the tiny scars through her thin nightdress.

"Hermione, please tell me who." Hermione looked at him with frightened eyes.

"Victor."

Draco backed away a little. "Victor?" he said meekly. "The quiddich star? The guy you have been dating for 3 years?"

"Yes." Hermione continued to look at her hands.

"Hermione, why didn't you tell anyone?" Draco's voice was so concerned, so heart felt.

"Hermione smiled sadly at him. "If only it where that easy, Draco. He wants to kill Harry and Ron. He wants to kill you." Dracos eyes widened in surprise.

 "How long has this been happening, Mione?"

 "Since summer break, when I went to his house in Bulgaria." Hermione answered simply.

"He-he hit you? A lot?" Hermione nodded.

"He did more then that, Draco." She said, almost savagely, tears starting to overflow in her eyes.

"He took everything from me! My dignity! My morals! My-" Her voice faltered, and she whispered. "My innocence."

Draco felt a cold steel hand wrap itself tightly around his heart. "He raped you?" He asked in a small voice. Hermione nodded, and flung herself at his chest.

"Draco! He hurt me so bad! He hurt me like no one else could. Not even you. He called me horrible names, and hit me, he hit me! He raped me until I wanted to die. I actually wished to die this summer! He was the one who left me in Knockturn Ally. He told me that if I said anything, I would be killed, and he would kill my family, and my friends, and everyone who loved me! I couldn't let anyone know! I would not have them dead simply because they loved me, Draco"

Draco had witnessed scene like this before. How many nights had he stayed awake, holding his mother just as he was holding Hermione? Victor sounds a lot like Lucius. An abusive man with no heart.

"Shh, shh Mione." He rocked her broken body back and forth. "Shh." It will be all right. I'm here, He can't hurt you now. And that's how Hermione fell asleep, listening to Dracos soothing words. This is how Hermione Granger, muggle born witch, melted the beasts' ice cold heart. Draco stayed up most of the night, just holding her. Her frail body so warm and vulnerable against his. His heart was broken for her. He knew what was happening, and he told her so.

 "I love you, Hermione." And he drifted into a dreamless sleep.