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FAÇADE
Truth be Told
Draco stared unblinking for a moment at the page in front of him, the blue glow had not yet left the words. Did she, but she wouldn't? Would she? Deciding not to take any chances, Draco dropped the book and ran from the room. The book lay open on the floor as the light of the words faded into darkness.
Once inside Hermione's room, Draco found the girl collapsed on the floor and shaking. He didn't know what was wrong, but one thing was for certain, the girl needed to get to the hospital wing immediately. One hand under her knees, and one under her shoulders, Draco staggered out of their dorm and up to the Hospital Wing, staggering slightly under the dead weight of the girl.
"I have given her a potion that will slow the poison, but I must work fast to find an antidote for what she has taken. Thank you for delivering her, Mr. Malfoy, but you would do well to go so that I may work uninterrupted. We will notify you should any changes occur."
Realizing, that the nurse obviously thought that he cared what was going to happen, and ignoring the fact that he did, he said, "Do you think I honestly care about a stupid little Mudblood? The way she was carrying on had become distracting, and I needed to remove her from my presence." Then he turned on his heel and retreated, leaving behind a rather confused Madam Pomphrey, who could have sworn that only moments before his surly face had actually been ridden with compassion and concern for the girl. Teenagers were simply getting more confusing by the day.
Ginny Weasley was walking down a hallway, she knew that Hermione's dorm was some where around here, but she didn't know exactly where. She had been counting on talking to Hermione about her troubles, but all week Hermione had been distracted, and was never there for Ginny to talk to. She had noticed this in Hermione on the train ride on the way there, Hermione's unwillingness to fully indulge in conversation. The boys hadn't noticed it, because both were clueless when dealing with the subtle workings of girls, but to Ginny who was Hermione's best girlfriend, the aberration did not go unnoticed.
Figuring that, in her own time, Hermione would come around and confide in Ginny as she had always done, she did not push her. But it was obvious that things were getting worse, and Hermione failed to make an appearance at all on Saturday. As it was now Sunday night, and the only news she had heard of the older girl, when Ron told her that he and Hermione had encountered a rather upset Harry Potter that morning, but she had apparently vanished shortly after.
There was a growing feeling of concern inside of Ginny that Hermione might need to talk to her as much as she needed to talk to Hermione. This of course, however, made her think of why she needed to talk to Hermione. Ginny had never wanted to dump Harry, but it seemed that there was nothing else to do. Her mind wandered back a few nights.
Harry's warm lips presses firmly against Ginny's and his strong arms encircled her and held her tight. It was a good feeling, a safe feeling; nothing could harm her while she was here. But Harry had to ruin it. They were in an old classroom sitting on the floor next to Harry's Invisibility Cloak. Ever so slowly, one of the hands that was holding Ginny, snuck up her shirt and traced its way up her spine. At first she ignored it, but soon it became apparent that the hand wanted to undo her bra.
"mmm…Harry," she meant to say powerfully for him to take it as a sign to stop, but it came out more like a moan. "Harry, HARRY!" that got his attention.
"What?"
"Stop," but as she said the word her voice became soft and she was forced to advert her eyes.
Harry sighed and released her, "What's with you Gin?"
"What's with me?" but apparently he didn't hear this.
"We've been going out steady for months now, and you haven't let me touch you once."
"Harry I told you, I just. I don't feel comfortable."
"Why Ginny? Why can't we get past this?"
"Why can't you respect my decision?"
"Because I don't understand it!"
Ginny looked at the ground. What Harry didn't know, and what she didn't want to tell him, was that her last boyfriend had raped her. She didn't tell any one not even Hermione, how could she? And Harry was the last person who she wanted to know. But since then, she was afraid of being touched by a guy, even Harry. It wasn't that she was afraid that he would rape her, it was just that the memory was still to strong, and she wanted to forget.
"Harry, you told me that you loved me," she now raised her pale blue eyes and met his green ones.
"I do Ginny, I really do, but what…"
"Harry, if you love me, you wont have to understand."
It was Harry's turn to look at the ground now; she was right and he knew it. But still, how can you expect a seventeen year old boy to engage in battle with his hormones, and not even tell him why? And his hormones so wanted him to hold Ginny close, like he had held no other girl before. He didn't mean to keep imposing himself on her, it just happened.
"Come on, lets go back," and Ginny complied.
They came back to a deserted Gryffindor Tower, and Harry walked Ginny over to her staircase. His arms wrapped around her waist as he pulled her in for a kiss. It was sweet and warmed his insides. Harry's hand left its place and ran itself over to caress the inner part of Ginny's thigh.
Ginny pulled back abruptly and said sternly, "Good night, Harry," and turned and withdrew into her dorm room.
Ginny couldn't keep up their relationship; she couldn't give Harry what he wanted. She had begun to think that Harry might not actually love her, but might simply be trying to get play. After all, he was so adamant about the subject. There was a great need to speak to the older girl and hear some good advise.
As Ginny stood there in the hallway looking for any sign of a room, a tall, blond, and muscular Slytherin came down the hallway. He was in a horrid mood and seeing the red head didn't help matters. "What are you doing here Weasley?" he spat.
"L-looking for Hermione, have you seen her?"
He stood towering over her, his face centimeters away from hers and fiercely he said, "I don't make it my business to baby sit Mudbloods!" The girl cringed as his harsh words hit her face. The blond walked briskly past her, knocking into her shoulder in the process. Git! She thought as he disappeared behind a portrait, but at least Ginny knew now where the common room was.
Hermione let out a low moan, her head was pounding and every inch of her body ached. Gods! What did she do to herself? She couldn't remember; everything was a blur. Her eyes slowly opened, and she saw great blobs of white and gray surrounding her. But wait, her room wasn't white! As the world came into focus, Hermione realized where she was: the hospital wing.
What would she be doing in the hospital wing? Then she remembered what had happened and what she had done. Oh no! She had failed! Ironically enough the first time she failed in her life was at trying to take her own life. But that's life's sick little twisted way of dealing with things now isn't it? She tried to sit up, but fell immediately back down as the pain scored across her brain.
Well one thing was for sure, she was not going to sit here and wait to answer questions. No, she was getting out, no matter how much it hurt. As every inch of her body screamed in protest, she deliberately stood up and staggered out of the room. She made her way to her room, by this time Ginny had long since departed. When Hermione entered the portrait hole, she noticed a blond sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. However, to draw any conclusion or make any inference besides the fact he was there was simply not allowed by the torment in her head.
"Hermione! Your alright!" his emotions had reacted to seeing the girl before his head, and he accidentally let his concern slip out. Well, it was too late to change that now, maybe he should come clean.
Hermione looked at him; one thing registered in her battered brain, this statement should not have come from that body. She turned and looked at him as he came in and out of focus, and the room started to sway.
In actuality, it was not the room, but Hermione that did the swaying; and an alarmed Malfoy rushed to her just in time to catch her before she fell to the ground. Perhaps now wasn't exactly the best time to come clean.
He took the unconscious girl up to her bedroom and laid her on her bed. He pulled the covers up over her and with his wand conjured up a cold damp cloth which he laid across her forehead. Then he went to the common room and began to brew a potion.
The potion he was called the Dolor Levatio potion, and it was good for aches and pains. It took half an hour to brew as it was a rather simple potion. When it was finished he took it back up to Hermione's room. Wand out, he said the word, "Enervate."
Hermione's eyes fluttered open, and she tried to sit up. Draco caught her behind the back and supported her so she could sit half way up. "Here drink this," he was holding the potion up to her face.
Hermione eyed him suspiciously.
"Oh for Merlin's sake! I'm not trying to poison you; you did that you self remember!" and in a softer and gentler tone added, "this will help." And his voice was encouraging.
Hermione looked at him and saw genuine concern in his eyes, and decided that maybe just this once, it was okay to trust him. Slowly, she parted her lips, and he raised the potion to them. It slid into her mouth smoothly as he tenderly poured it in. it was soothing, and Hermione could feel a warm tingling sensation flow through her as she swallowed. Draco gingerly laid her back on her pillow and stroked the hair that fell across her forehead. "Sleep now," he whispered as he looked into her eyes; and he was the last thing she saw before she shut her own eyes and let sleep take her.
God she is beautiful.
He was also the first thing she saw when she woke up feeling better than she had the last two times she did. Draco was sprawled across and arm chair, his robes ruffled and his usually perfect hair disheveled. There was also the faint sign of bags under his eyes. He must have felt her looking at him, because he woke up and looked at her.
"Oh, your up." His speech was slightly awkward; it was one thing to take care of her as she slept, but it was another thing entirely to be here while she was awake and able to completely object to his presence.
She eyed him curiously, the faint memory of their previous encounter played at the back of her mind. It was a strange thought and she felt the awkwardness also; for here in front of her sat her archenemy, apparently having cared for her while she was incapacitated. "What, what day is it?" she asked cautiously, not knowing what to say to her enemy and savior.
"Today is Wednesday. You left the hospital wing on Monday and have been asleep here ever since."
"Why…" she didn't know how to finish her thought, how to ask why he would save and care for her. But apparently he knew what she was thinking.
"I don't know." As he said this, his gaze drifted down to the floor. "Well maybe…" but he trailed off.
"What do you mean?" the brunette prompted.
He turned and looked at her, holding back tears in his eyes. This was going to be really hard to do. "Hermione," he began slowly, "I, I did something bad, and I know I shouldn't have, but at the time it seemed like such a good idea, but so much has, changed, since then." He looked down at the floor.
"I'm listening," she said urging him to continue.
"Hermione, when I saw you on the Hogwarts express, you dropped something before you left, I picked it up. Later I made a copy of it and put the original back in your possession before you noticed. But the copy also copied every thing that was added to the original. And having this object in my possession gave me a lot of insight about. I learned things that I would have never even imagined. Once I really looked at it, I knew I should never have done it; it wasn't a silly little thing like I thought it would be. No, it was more. But it was so powerful that I became addicted to it, I wanted to know more. I became quite addicted to it, and quite fascinated by you. but I am going to do now what I should have done a long time ago." Draco reached into his robes and pulled out a small black book and placed it on Hermione's lap.
Curiously she picked up the book and opened it. She glanced at the page realizing what it was and her stomach sank.
Am I evil for leaving it there? What will Hermione do now that she knows the truth? Will she forgive and forget? Or will she be mad? But he did save her life! Yea but he was a prick! Hmm… I think I know how she will react ::laughs evilly:: yes, that will do quite nicely! And what about Ginny! Poor girl! I never would have guessed that. Makes me want to cry. But it looks like Hermione and Draco weren't the only one's pretending everything was normal. I wonder if anyone else has secrets…hmm… I dunno yet. be a good audience and tell me if making more people play charades will just muddle the story or if that will make it more interesting.
Anyways, Ginny is going to be the one who realizes that Hermione has problems, I think any ways, Harry and Ron are sadly too clueless when it comes to girls.
Okay now make me really happy and review!! no? what if I said there was candy involved? That's more like it!
And I want to thank every body who reviewed, b/c well, I love you guys! But sadly, I cannot get on to fanfic, so I cannot respond to them. Which also means that no one can read my story I updated yesterday. ::cries:: but if you want to, you could read it, its called Moonlight, and its pretty good, everyone's liked it so far. There's only two chapters as of yet, so it wont take long. ::looks pleadingly::
Anyways, those of you who did review, thank you, and I will make a thank you/response session at the end of next chapter promise!
Alright well I am going to go and well write another chapter for something else now! Ta ta for now!!
~Atiannala