ALL YOU WANTED

A/N: I'm really sorry about the whole delay thing… I did go to Vietnam and Cambodia (and Singapore for one day, but that doesn't really count) and it was… OK *cough*. A bit too dirty for me but it just made me realise how lucky I am…

Anyway, I had no idea which song to do, so I decided on the long awaited… *drum roll* ALL YOU WANTED! Course, you could see that from the title… but anyway…

Oh, and I want to apologise about the whole Gypsy title thing… if you guys want me to change it, I will…

But title or… some other title, this is All You Wanted!

Disclaimer: OK, one of my friends advised me to have fun with the disclaimer… how much fun can you have with this thing??? Anyhoo, I'm sure everybody knows that none of this belongs to me. All You Wanted belongs to the extremely talented Michelle Branch and the characters and stuff belong to J.K. Rowling. How rich is she? Man, I wish I had money… lots and lots of it. XD!

~*~

Draco sat down in the common room, finishing his Potions homework, when his eye owl Shari flew in through the window and dropped a letter on his parchment. Draco stroked the pet fondly as he opened the letter. Shari flew out through the open window, most likely to the Owlery.

He read his name on the front, obviously scrawled in a hurry. He stared at the letters curiously, wondering whom on earth it was from, and then it hit him.

Lucius.

Draco groaned, wondering what this letter contained. The last few letters had obviously proved a point to Draco. His father only ever wrote to him when he was caught up in some horrible let's-kill-Harry-Potter-to-avenge-our-Lord scheme or to deliver bad news to him.

Draco was absolutely shocked when this letter contained a little bit of both.

To Draco,

Now, my son, you should know very well by now that on the very rare occasion that I ever put quill to parchment to take the time out of my busy schedule to write you a letter, is when I need you to do something for me. And, yes, this would be no exception.

I recently attended a Death Eaters' meeting with our Lord and discussed Mr. Potter, finally reaching a conclusion that a brilliant scheme that we thought up would be terrific to kill him. (Draco groaned. "What's new?" he muttered.)

Now, I shall not mention anything at all about this scheme in this letter as I find letter a rather unreliable way to deliver such important news. I shall arrive at Hogwarts next Monday to discuss with you our little 'arrangement'.

Lucius.

Typical. Cold, brief, to the point. Just like Lucius himself. Draco folded the letter and neatly put it in his Potions book.

He stared into space, not only wondering what on earth this crazy scheme was, but what he was supposed to do about Hermione. He knew he was falling madly in love with her and he knew that whatever this scheme was, if she ever found out about it, if she ever found out he was involved, she would hate him forever.

And he wasn't going to stand there and let that happen.

~*~

"Please join with your assigned partner and continue with your assignment."

Yes, they were in Potions on a beautiful Monday afternoon. But Draco didn't think it was beautiful at all.

He was sitting across from the girl of his dreams and he was unable to tell her anything about what was about to take place tomorrow morning.

"Draco, are you OK?"

Draco snapped out of his depressing thoughts and stared right at her. His eyes were wide with shock of being pulled out of his reverie but soon they returned to normal.

"Course." He replied with forced enthusiasm. "Why would anything be wrong?"

"Just…" she stopped, biting her lip as though she was sifting through her brain for an answer. "You seem quiet and distracted." She finished finally.

"Oh." Was all he could say. She read him pretty well for someone who barely knew him. What she said next, however, sent Draco's heart into a frenzy.

"You know," she whispered. "When we were talking the other night, I realised that I was the one doing all the talking. I mean, I told you about how my family spends our summer… and I realised that I barely knew anything about your family."

Draco's heart rate doubled, he could imagine the beads of sweat forming at his temples and his eyes growing wide once again.

What on earth was he supposed to say to her? How his mother and father argued day and night? How his father beat the crap out of him and his mother? About his father's conniving little plans to kill her best friend?

"Oh, there's nothing interesting about my family." He finally replied but, unfortunately for him, his voice was shaky, reinforcing the fact that he was doing a major lying job.

"Draco, you know you can tell me…" she said gently and quietly.

"I know… it's just… You wouldn't understand."

The bell went signaling the end of class and Draco was in such a rush to get away from Hermione, he simply grabbed his bag and rushed from the dungeons.

Hermione stared at his retreating figure, her heart sinking lower and lower. She began to gather up her things when she realised that Draco had left his book behind. She picked it up and was about to put it in her bag, when a slip of parchment fell out of the book.

She picked it up, wondering whether she should read it or just leave it be. Her curiosity got the better of her and she turned it over. Draco's name was written on the front and she opened it, a wave of trepidation crashing over her. Once she had finished the letter, she knew why.

I wanted to be like you
I wanted everything
So I tried to be like you
And I got swept away

~*~

Draco dropped his bag on the floor and flopped onto his bed. He was just about to drift off to sleep when Pansy came in.

"Dracie!" she screeched and Draco got up like a shot. "Mudblood gave me this outside. I wonder how the hell she found out where our common room was…"

She dropped a book onto the end of his bed and, after throwing him a 'seductive' (A/N: *cough*) look, left the room.

Draco grabbed the book. 'Mudblood' was evidently Hermione. He saw the cover of the book.

Magical Drafts and Potions.

Draco panicked. He flipped to the page where he had kept his father's letter but there was a slight change.

One other tiny piece of parchment was stuck in the middle of the letter and it read: Did you want me to come? I can borrow Harry's Invisibility Cloak.

Draco's heart seemed to stop with fear and realisation.

Hermione had read his letter.

~*~

Draco rushed to the Great Hall, clutching both Lucius' and Hermione's letters. Fury made him walk even faster than usual. Finally he found her.

He tapped her on the shoulder and she turned around, the grin on her face fading when she saw the angry look on his. He grabbed her arm, making her cry in pain and shoved her into an empty room, slamming the door behind him.

His cold grey eyes flashed angry as he threw the letters towards her feet.

"What is the meaning of your little 'note'?" he muttered through gritted teeth.

"I thought you'd like a little support, that's all…" she whispered.

"Haven't you ever heard of a little thing called 'privacy'? You barely know me so stop trying to butt into my life!"

She stood quickly, her eyes shining with tears but narrowed in anger. "Well, if you weren't so secretive and told me a few things about you, or even if you took all of your belongings with you when you leave a classroom, I wouldn't have to go 'snooping', would I?" she shouted defensively.

"I have a right not to tell you if I don't want to, but you have no right, whatsoever, to go snooping around my stuff!" he shouted just as loudly.

"Draco…" she suddenly whispered gently. "I just don't think your father is a very good man to be around… I'm just trying to look out for you."

"I'm a big boy." He snapped. "I can look after myself." With that, he turned and left the room. Hermione picked up the letter from the floor.

"I'm not so sure about that, Draco." She whispered.

I didn't know that it was so cold
And you needed someone to show you the way
So I took your hand and we figured out
That when the tide comes I'd take you away

~*~

Draco sat during breakfast, twiddling his thumbs. He hadn't eaten a thing. He had, instead, shoved his breakfast towards Crabbe and Goyle who both attacked the plate as if they were a pair of lions attacking the last antelope in the world.

"Draco." Someone called and he turned towards the entrance to the Hall.

Sure enough, Lucius was striding towards him, black robes billowing behind him. Draco watched his father walk briskly towards him. Time seemed to pass achingly slow, as if the earth had suddenly decided to go for a coffee break and head off its eternal shift of orbiting the Sun.

Finally, Lucius stood right next to Draco and he motioned towards the door. Draco slowly stood and followed his father out of the Hall.

He was so focused on his father that he didn't realise that Hermione was following them.

~*~

It seemed as though the whole Hall was frozen as Lucius walked through the door and into the Great Hall. Hermione watched as Harry and Ron both seemed to be restraining each other, how Professor McGonagall suddenly turned to whisper furiously to Professor Dumbledore and how Professor Flitwick fainted with, what appeared to be, shock.

But she only thought she noticed these things.

She was too busy staring at Draco. He seemed to appear nonchalant, but Hermione knew that, deep inside, he was probably cowering, that his grey eyes were probably narrowing in fear.

Deep down, Hermione was scared for him, but she needed to look like she didn't care.

Lucius reached Draco and he got up and followed him out of the Hall. As soon as they were out of the room, the Hall seemed to thaw and conversations continued. Harry and Ron were whispering among themselves, no doubt about Lucius, so Hermione didn't even bother excusing herself.

She just slipped the Invisibility Cloak on and followed them out of the Hall.

~*~

Draco scuffed his shoes as he tagged slowly behind his father towards some empty room. He had no idea what his father's plan was or what he would have to do, but he knew that, no matter what, he was going to lose Hermione.

'That is, if you haven't already lost her.' He thought miserably.

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, they reached an empty classroom. Lucius waited for Draco to sit down before he closed the door.

"Now, Draco…" he started but Draco suddenly felt the urge to stand up for what he believed in. He hated Harry, but he wanted no part in his death. He wanted that left to his father.

"Look, Dad, I don't want any part in this killing Har… Potter scheme. I don't want to be a murderer."

Lucius seemed frozen and stared at his son directly in the eye. Draco realised then how powerful eyes could be. He inherited his eyes from his father and he had always felt a sense of power emanating from them, and, of course, the sincerity in Hermione's gaze. No matter how far apart they drifted away, he would never forget it.

Then Lucius broke their glaring competition by shaking his head.

"Your mind's set on this… rebellion?" he asked slowly. Draco nodded and Lucius sighed. "We've been through this before Draco. You know what I must do. I need you to work with me. I don't ask you for things very often…"

"Bull!" Draco cut in. "You're always asking me for top grades, to deliver messages to your accomplices…"

"But all for your future!" Lucius cried defensively. He took one, large step towards Draco, who took a step back, and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Everything I ask for you to do, is all for you. Your future, your destiny."

"I control my destiny, Dad! Not you, not Mum, no one but me. And I've never had control of my life. Everything always goes your way. Whatever you want, you get!"

Lucius' eyes narrowed as he spoke and Draco knew he was just digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole.

"Is that what you really think?" he whispered dangerously. Draco wasn't even given the chance to reply before he was thrown against the wall.

His father had pulled out his wand and had it pointed directly at Draco. Lucius muttered something and Draco suddenly felt a pulling at his throat. He tried to yell at his father but no sound escaped.

Lucius had removed his voice.

Suddenly, Draco heard the door being opened. Both he and Lucius turned around but couldn't see anyone. Lucius turned back to Draco, a malicious glint in his eyes.

Then Lucius fell to the floor.

Draco pushed himself right into the wall, as though afraid he was going to catch whatever his father had, but then saw his wand being pulled from his hand. Draco followed the wand, mesmerised.

Then Hermione appeared.

Draco's eyes widened in fear as Hermione turned towards him, wand pointed. He knew he shouldn't have yelled at her. Now she was going to kill him. He got up and ran.

"Draco! STOP!" she called, but he didn't. fear gave him and extra push, but suddenly he tripped. At that very moment, Hermione jumped on him and they fell to the ground with a crash.

Draco writhed furiously on the floor, mouth open but no sound came out. Hermione pointed the wand at him again.

"Finite Incatatem." She said calmly and Draco felt his throat relax as his voice came back.

He lay on the floor, massaging his throat as Hermione got up and walked towards Lucius who was pulling himself up from the floor.

"Come on, Mudblood." He snarled. "Give me back my wand."

Hermione laughed. "I may be Muggle-born, but I'm not stupid."

Lucius dove for her. She jumped out of the way and ran for the other side of the room. Lucius landed on his stomach and he cried out in pain. He staggered up and glared at her.

"Are you trying to make me look stupid?" he asked angrily.

"Don't need any help from me, Sir." She replied cheerfully.

"That's right!" he shot back and he turned bright red when he realised what he had said.

He looked down at Draco and muttered, "You will pay for this." Then he turned to Hermione. "You. You will pay!" he shouted and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Hermione walked over to Draco and held out her hand to help him up.

"We need to talk." She said seriously.

~*~

"So… what did you want to talk about?" Draco asked nonchalantly. Hermione glared at him.

"I think we both know what we need to talk about." She replied sternly.

"Fine." He sighed.

"Tell me about your family." She suggested.

"I… it's hard to explain." He muttered, then he looked at Hermione. "I've never felt close to my father. I mean, with all the time I spent with my mother, you'd think that I'd be gay or something… but I'm not!

"It's just, ever since I was born, my father's been hard on me. People seem to think I'm a spoiled brat… and I am… but I've lived a harder life than everyone thinks I have. Sure, I have all the house elves, the money, but I never had anyone to talk to. My father kept me apart from people who I could talk to and anytime that I tried to venture closer to them… he… he…"

"He what?" she prodded gently.

"I don't want to talk about it." He whispered.

"He hit you?" she suggested and nodded. "See? That's exactly why I wanted to come with you. And it almost happened, too. He's a dangerous man nd you have to watch out for yourself."

"I know."

Hermione could tell he was dejected so she pulled him up and led him to the Great Hall.

"It's about time we ate, don't you think?" she winked and she walked in before he did.

Draco stood, alone, outside of the door and watched as Hermione sat down next to Harry and Ron. He had thought about it before, but now he was sure.

They both cared deeply for each other and that was worth everything to Draco.

If you want to
I can save you
I can take you away from here
So lonely inside
So busy out there
And all you wanted was somebody who cares

~*~

Hermione waved goodbye to Harry and Ron as they left to go play Quidditch after Potions on Friday. She slowly packed her bag, wondering whether she should actually go to dinner or not. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the door to the dungeon slam.

She looked up immediately and her eyes widened in fear when she saw Lucius Malfoy standing right there. Her mouth hung open but she couldn't scream.

"Hello, Hermione." He spat out. "What a pleasure to see you."

"What do you want?" she asked. Her eyes grew even wider as he pulled out a wand.

"Oh, I just wanted you and Draco to pay for what you did to me on Monday." He answered as though this was the most natural thing in the world. He walked closer and closer towards her until she was backed up against the cold stone wall, cowering in fear.

"Let's just wait for dear old Draco, shall we?" he hissed. "Meanwhile, let's have a little fun."

Hermione screamed.

~*~

Draco sat watching the fire in the Slytherin common room when Crabbe came up and tapped him on the shoulder. His mouth was too full of chocolate cake to talk so he just handed Draco a letter and walked away.

Draco opened it quickly and read its contents hurriedly. He gasped, threw the letter into the fire, picked up his wand and ran out.

He rushed down the corridors, running as fast as possible towards the Potions dungeons, panic pushing him faster and faster.

After what seemed like forever, he finally came to the dungeon room and kicked open the door.

Hermione was folded up in the corner of the room. She had been cut and bruised badly and she was crying helplessly.

Lucius turned towards his son and grinned sadistically.

"Why, hello, son." he smiled. "I've just been getting better acquainted with this Mudblood here." He paused and walked slowly towards Draco, then circled around him.

"You know, I don't know you particularly well, do I? Perhaps I should get to know you well, too."

Sheer, blind panic spread through him. He knew that as badly bashed as Hermione looked right now, he also knew that Lucius had gone easy on her.

He could tell, from the look on his father's face, he was not going to go easy on him.

Draco thought desperately, wondering how he was going to get him and Hermione out of this predicament, hopefully alive.

Then he remembered he had brought his wand.

"STUPEFY!" he yelled and pointed his wand directly at his father's heart. Lucius went flying across the room and knocked his head on the stone wall, leaving him unconscious.

Draco made a beeline for Hermione who was still crying hard.

"Herm…" he whispered. "We have to get you to the Hospital Wing."

"Draco…" she murmured. "It hurts…"

"I know." He said simply and picked her up and took her to the Hospital Wing.

I'm sinking slowly
So hurry hold me
Your hand is all I have to keep me hanging on
Please can you tell me
So I can finally see
Where you go when you're gone

~*~

Hermione stirred awake the next morning. White light poured in before she even opened her eyes and she groaned in pain. She heard furious whispering beside.

"Shut up!"

"You shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

"For crying out loud, both of you shut up!"

"Why don't all of us shut up?"

Silence.

Hermione opened her eyes slowly and saw all three Weasley brothers and Harry surrounding her bed. She forced a smile.

"Hey guys." She greeted hoarsely.

"How can you possibly smile at a time like this?" all four yelled in unison and Hermione shrank back.

"Sorry." They all whispered.

"S'OK." She said, but Madam Pomfrey burst into the room at that very moment.

"You're awake? Good. I can help you get better now. Shoo, boys!" and she pushed them out of the room. She could hear Ron and Harry promising to come back later.

Madam Pomfrey fussed over he all day since there was no one else coming in and, finally, she left to go see Professor Dumbledore.

Hermione tried to sleep but then she heard the door open and Draco walked in.

"Can't stay long." He whispered quickly. "No one's supposed to know about us. I just came to see how you were. I'm really sorry."

She smiled hesitantly. "It's not your fault. In fact, it just made me realise how bad it is to live with him. Look out… he might come back."

"I can handle him now. It's you who should look out." He grinned but his smile faltered as he heard someone walking outside. "I'd better go, just in case." He rushed over, kissed on the forehead and waved goodbye.

She was telling the truth when she told him about how hard it was to live with him. If it were her, she would've already bashed him over the head with a candlestick.

Her thoughts went back to when she was talking to Draco after the first incident and realised that she was probably the only person in the world who truly cared about him.

And simply for the satisfaction of that honour, she would always stay by his side.

If you want to
I can save you
I can take you away from here
So lonely inside
So busy out there
And all you wanted was somebody who cares

~*~

After a week or so, Hermione got better. Inside, she was scarred for life but she looked as she always had, bushy brown hair and all.

While she was recovering from her shock, Draco stood by her the whole time. He talked to her about some of the other things that his father had done but Hermione didn't want to hear about that.

One night, they were sitting together in the Astronomy Tower, Hermione's head was on Draco's chest. Out of the blue, she said something that Draco never thought he'd ever hear in his life.

"Draco, I'll always be there for you, no matter what." She whispered.

Draco stared at her, eyes wide in shock. No one had ever 'been there' for him before. He'd always go on the road alone, no one to talk to, no one to care about.

No one.

And right then, he felt so happy that, finally, someone would go along that road with him, would share his joy and pain and he smiled.

"I'll always be there for you, too."

He leant down and kissed her.

All you wanted was somebody who cares
If you need me you know I'll be there

~*~

Draco held Hermione's hand until they had to part ways. He kissed again and she smiled.

"Never been kissed." He said. "I can tell."

She blushed. "Never been kissed by someone I actually care for." She corrected and Draco felt as though he could melt on the spot.

Then a loud crash cut through the air and they could hear Filch howling in either pain or anger.

"Better go. 'Night!" he whispered into her ear and walked down the stairs that led to the Slytherin common room.

Hermione ambled towards the Gryffindor common room. She couldn't believe what she had said tonight. 'I'll always be there for you'? What on earth was she thinking. She was just scaring him away. Luckily for her, he didn't take it seriously.

Or even 'never been kissed by someone I actually care about'? Talk about putting her foot in her mouth.

She slowly returned to reality when she noticed Ron standing in front of her.

"Hey, Ron!" she greeted.

"Hey. Look, Herm, we need to talk."

Hermione's heart rate zoomed. "What's wrong? Is someone sick?"

"No, no. We just have to talk about us." He reassured.

"'Us'?" she asked. "What 'us'?"

"You and I, Herm. I love you."

Hermione's heart stopped. "What?" she whispered.

He took a step closer. "I love you." He said again and bent and kissed her.

Hermione didn't even move to stop him.

If you want to
I can save you
I can take you away from here
So lonely inside
So busy out there
And all you wanted was somebody who cares

~*~

Draco had walked down towards the Slytherin entrance when he realised he still had Hermione's quill with him from their 'assignment session'. He hoped he could track her down. He knew this much about her – she liked to walk very slowly.

He raced back up the stairs and when he reached the top, he dropped the quill in shock.

There, at the head of the stairs, was his Hermione and Weasel kissing like there was no tomorrow.

He watched desperately, begging Hermione to try to stop him from continuing but she seemed to enjoy herself immensely.

Draco suddenly felt very sick to the stomach and he raced off.

He knew Hermione hadn't acknowledged his presence and that killed him inside.

Please can you tell me
So I can finally see
Where you go when you're gone

~*~

A/N: Have I twisted this around or what? *grins evilly* I have no idea how long this thing (meaning the love triangle) is going to last for, but I just realised that I only have seven chapters more! Wow… feel's like there should be soooo much more… oh, and sorry if this chapter isn't up to scratch, I just wanted to get it over with…

Anyway, if you want that email update thingamabob, just chuck it into a review or email (or letter, but you have no idea where I live, ne?). Anyway, please review! Pretty please with a cherry on top! Or sprinkles… or whipped cream! Mmm… whipped cream… *drool*