Chapter Nine: Not Looking Back

The library was much quieter than the Great Hall, and of course a much better place

to do homework, or unfinished summer assignments. Harry and Ron sat at their usual table

towards the back, the latter of the two working frantically to finish his Charms work, which

was due next class.

"Almost done, Ron?" Harry asked, looking up from his parchment.

Ron was hunched over his parchment, scribbling furiously with a quill. He did not

look up. "Yeah, you?"

"Finished. Want to see?" he asked, knowing what the answer would be.

"Sure! Great! Thank you so much, Harry!" Ron took the parchment and copied it,

while Harry looked on, amused at his friend's frenzied demeanor.

Five minutes later, Ron glanced up, breathing a sigh of relief. He handed the paper

to Harry. "Thanks."

"No problem, Ron," he replied.

"You're a lifesaver." Wow. He had finally finished. This would be the last time he

ever left anything for the last minute. Hermione had probably finished hers the first week

of summer vacation. Speaking of Hermione... Where was she? With Malfoy...?

Harry looked on, as Ron contemplated his thoughts. His blood seemed to boil, and it

didn't take much for him to guess what his friend was thinking about.

Then, as if on cue, the door to the library swung open, and Hermione walked in,

looking very upset.

"Ron, look..." said Harry.

Ron turned around, and looked at Hermione. Tears were streaming down her face.

She ran towards them, without a word.

"'Mione! What's wrong? What happened?" asked Ron frantically.

Harry got up and put his arms around her, hugging his friend to help comfort her.

"Shhh... It's okay, Hermione, Ron and I are here for you." He lifted her chin, and looked

into her chocolate brown eyes. "Now what happened?"

She looked at him, then at Ron, her eyes filled with tears, and red rimmed. Her hair

was disheveled, and her face flushed. She looked down.

"I... Oh my God, I'm so sorry..." She buried her head in Harry's chest, and he held

her close. Anything to make her feel better.

Harry looked at Ron. His eyes were ablaze with a fury that Harry had never seen

before. He nodded, and turned on his heel, steps heavy but quick, towards the door.

Ron walked through the hallways almost thoughtlessly, like a predator in search of

his prey. He paced the countless corridors of Hogwarts castle, before finally spotting him.

The cause of his friend's troubles, the inconsiderate, selfish wizard supremacist bastard. His

platinum blond hair was visible form a great distance.

"Malfoy!" he called, angrily.

The blond Slytherin turned his head. "What do you want, Weasley?"

Ron looked at him in contempt. How could the malevolent git not know? "What did

you do to Hermione?" he asked, furiously.

Draco looked up, distraught. He did not answer.

"What, Malfoy? ANSWER ME NOW, DAMMIT!!"

He looked up at Ron, who by now had his face redder than his hair. "None of your

business, Weasley. Now leave me alone."

That was what made Ron snap. "It is my business you fucking asshole! She's my

best friend, and anyone who even thinks about hurting her is going to have ME to deal

with!!" he said, as he pulled out his wand. Draco saw this, and was quicker to act.

"Expelliarmus!"

Ron's wand flew into the air. He was now unarmed. 'Well, Malfoy might have the

upper hand, but not for long,' he thought. Ron lunged at him, with all his might, slamming

him into the stone wall.

Ron's actions caught Draco off guard, and he was hit hard. He dropped his wand

when his body collided with the wall behind him. Ron swung at him, but more years of

athletics were on Draco's side, as he avoided the hit, and Ron's fist crashed into the wall.

He used this opportunity to punch the redhead in the stomach, and pin him against the

opposite wall. Draco was about to knock him senseless, when a voice came through the

corridor.

"Draco! Ron! No!" It was Hermione. "Please, stop! Please!" she sobbed. "Please

don't do this..."

Ron looked up at her. She looked like an angel, beautiful, and yet fragile. The sight

of her there, tear-stained cheeks and glassy-eyed, made him want to hurt Malfoy even

more. Malfoy seemed to look at her too, frozen, it seemed, by her appearance.

"Hermione? Are you --"

But Draco could not finish, for at that moment, Ron took a swing at him, hitting him

squarely in the jaw, and turned the tables on him. Now Malfoy was cornered, and Ron had

every intent to finish him off so he could never hurt Hermione again.

A pair of strong arms pulled him backwards, however, and he was unable to pull

himself free.

"Calm down, Ron. Stop." It was Harry.

Ron struggled furiously. "Let me go!"

"No, Ron, not until you calm down."

Ron's squirming seemed to be too much for Harry, and despite the latter's greater

strength, Ron had the advantage of having had older brothers to fight with in his earlier

years. He was able to get out of Harry's grip, and lunged at Malfoy again. But this time,

Hermione stepped in the way.

"Stop it, Ron, please. I don't want to see either of you get hurt. Please. For me..."

Ron looked at Hermione. The look in her eyes was all he needed. He stopped. At

that moment, he would have done anything to make her happy, anything to wipe away the

sadness. So he stopped. He stopped and walked away.

Harry watched as Ron had struggled from his grip and then went to beat Malfoy to a

pulp. And then Hermione had stepped in. She shielded the blond Slytherin, and there was

no explanation other than that she genuinely cared for him. Hermione cared for Draco

Malfoy. Harry could not believe it.

He sighed as Ron backed away at Hermione's request, leaving her in front of Draco,

watching as the redhead turned and walked away, down the seemingly endless corridor.

She really cared about him. She cared about all of them.

Her eyes met Harry's and he looked down the hall, motioning for her to come with

him. He took her hand and they walked. She did not look back at Draco.

Author's Note

Oh my God!! Reviews galore!! I love you guys : ) Okay, this chapter is for Zoe (don't

worry I'll squeeze in Quidditch there in the upcoming chapters... but who will Hermione cheer for? I

wonder...) and anyone else who wanted to see a fight between Ron and Draco... This was hard to

write; I'm not the violent type... But more to come... sigh can't we all just get along?!

I had to change the rating; I was going to eventually, but I figured with all the cursing and violence in

this chapter it was necessary. Yeah, and then what's to come...

I hope you liked this chapter, please R&R, and thanks to my reviewers (doing the moonwalk yeah,

that's my crazy-happy dance...)... The next chapter will make things very interesting... Sorry to not

be able to add more tonight, but yawn I'm sleepy... It's now 12:23 AM and I have gym and class

tomorrow, laughs I hate to leave the fic like this... So sad... sniffles Okay, two chapters

tomorrow night, I promise... It'll get better... Just hang in there...

E. Caddy Compson (persephoneia)