Chapter 2

Broken

"You were my sun,

You were my earth,

But you didn't know all the ways I loved you, no,

So you took a chance,

Made other plans,

But I bet you didn't think that they'd come crashing down, no,

You don't have to say what you did,

I already know,

I found out from her,

Boy, there's just no chance,

That you and me, we'll never be,

Don't it make you sad about it,

You told me you loved me,

Why did you leave me all alone,

Now you tell me you need me,

When you call me on the phone,

Boy, I refuse,

You must have me confused with some other girl,

They just confirmed,

Now it's your turn to cry,

Cry me a river,

You know that they say,

Somethings are better left unsaid,

They were all lies,

But if I could only talk to her and you know it,

Don't act like you don't know it,

You should have picked honesty,

Then you may not have blown it,

The damage is done so I guess I'll be leavin',

Go on and just cry me a river,

I don't wanna cry no more,

Cry me a river."

Justin Timberlake " Cry Me A River"

Hermione Granger was at a high in her life. She had a great boyfriend, even better grades and a little sister on the way. How could life get any better, she kept asking herself and then it it would.

She was going out with Ronald Weasley, one of her best friends, and in her opinion, everything that a loving boyfriend should be. He was always there for her, he was the shoulder she fell asleep on, because she didn't have reasons to cry and he just was so sweet.

But a bleak spot in all the happiness had been that Harry Potter, her other best friend, had been drawing away from her and everybody else for that matter. He looked like a ghost of his former self the whole Cediric Diggory thing had really messed with his head and he wouldn't stop blaming himself for it. Hermione was at a loss about what to do about him. He didn't talk, at least not like he used to. He used to be so full of life and very loving, now he was a mere shell with nothing left inside.

But Hermione just let him drift away, there was after all nothing she could do. It was something that Harry would have to do for himself. No amount of coaxing could get him back. All she had now was Ron. He was her life, her world. Without him she didn't know how she would go on and live each day.

It was the night of the second annual Yule Ball, which they were holding in honor of Cedric Diggory. Ron had a bit too much to drink and he began to try and feel up Hermione when they where sitting at a table.

"Get off Ron", she kept telling him and he would stop for maybe a second or two, take another swig of the spiked punch and would have another go at Hermione.

Finally, Hermione got him to stop. They went out to dance to the last song of the night, and immediately Ron began kissing Hermione's neck. Hermione was very uncomfortable. She led Ron away from the dance floor and up a flight of stairs after the Yule Ball ended. They went down a wrong hallway and Hermione stopped to look around.

"I don't know where we are, Ron", she said after looking at the unfamilair portraits hanging on the wall.

Ron slurred something that Hermione didn't understand at all. She walked back towards him and grabbed his arm to lead him back the way they had came. But Ron had other ideas. As soon as she started walking, he pushed her into a wall and pinned her there with her arms above her head. He held her arms with one hand and with the other began exploring what was under Hermione's shirt. She tried to scream, but Ron cut her off in mid-breath with a kiss. Hermione had tears streaming down her face by this time and was trying desprately to push Ron off her.

Then she heard a shout and felt Ron being literally thrown off her. As soon as she was free of Ron, she slumped to floor in a sobbing heap. She heard Ron hit the floor and opened her eyes, which had been clenched shut to block out the sight of Ron, and saw the last person on earth she had expected to see.

Draco Malfoy stood before her, his hand extended in her direction. He had a really concerned look on his face. Ron was laying a few feet away knock out by his encounter with the wall.

Hermione looked frightfully up at Draco. They had never gotten along, so why was he helping her now?

"Are you okay, Hermione", Draco asked grabbing her hand and hefting her to her feet.

Him saying her first name sounded weird, even to his ears and in other circumstances Hermione would have laughed. But the time was now and the she was in the present. She nodded and looked down. She actaully had little rivers of blood on her stomach. She hadn't realized that Ron had been clawing her like that. She looked at the blood dumbfounded. She was at a loss as to what she was going to next.

Her worst enemy had just witnessed her boyfriend and best friend nearly ... oh she wasn't even going to think about what could have happened. Draco took out his wand and cleaned up the cuts on her arms and stomach. He was quite shocked. He hadn't believed the sight that had greeted his eyes when he had stepped down this coridoor.

Hermione was quite shaken as well. Draco could see her shaking like a leaf, and she wrapped her arms tightly around herself and tried to look calm, but her eyes, which as he looked really closely at her, had the scared rabbit look in them.

"Are you sure your alright", he said at last after what seemed like an eternity of silence.

"Yes", Hermione said shakily.

"I can't believe the Weasel would ... Oh, I'm so sorry Hermione", Draco said sweetly.

She looked up at him. First he had started calling her by her first name and then he said he was sorry, this was so strange.