The Rape of the Lock

Chapter 8: I've Had a Bad Night

Reminder: Story is rated 'R,' but not particularly for this chapter. Spay or neuter your pets, peeps.

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He could sense her fear, and wondered why she trembled slightly when he touched her shoulder or held her by the hair. She had never been frightened before. Awkward, but never scared. Draco sincerely doubted she was really on her period, but didn't want to take the time to engage in a pointless argument. He had been stressed enough that day. Besides, with her terrified like this, it was almost exciting again to do these things with her.

With his pants around his ankles and him distracted for the time, it was almost child's play for Mindy to remove his keys from his pocket and slip them into her own. His fingernails dug into her scalp, but her short cry of shock was muffled, and the only outward symptoms of her pain were the tears streaming from her eyes.

(:)--=

"Hermione?" Harry was blurry as he stood over her.

Ron kneeled down at her shoulder. "Are you okay? What happened?"

She couldn't remember at first, and things hurt. She tried to prop herself up on her hands, only to encounter searing pain from her wrists. "Fuck," she whispered, and fell onto her back. That hurt, too.

The girl made quite an image, sprawled in the hallway with her cloak bunched around her head and deathly pale. At least her eyes were open now. "Do you still think you can handle this on your own?" Harry prodded.

Hermione glared at him. "Yes." What had happened was coming back to her, and making her incredibly angry and frustrated all over again.

"Leave her alone, Harry. She's been through enough." Ron picked her up under her knees and back, noticing her wince. "Whatever it was."

Afraid more than anything that the floppy sleeves of the robe would fall back and reveal her wrists, she wanted to tell Ron that she was all right and that it was really better if she walked, but he would insist and all that conversation would just wear her out. Instead, under the steady rhythm of his footfalls in the empty late-night corridors, and duress from blood loss, she fell back asleep.

"She looks so much smaller when she's asleep," Harry commented quietly.

"Yeah."

"You want me to take over for a while?"

"No, I'm all right." Ron was only absentmindedly listening, as he noticed a thin line of blood running down Hermione's palm to the tip of her ring finger.

(:)--=

Ginny didn't get back to Gryffindor tower until long after the other three had gone to bed. She changed into pajamas, fully anticipating falling asleep in her breakfast the next morning.

(:)--=

Hermione woke up early, even more achey than the night before. The healing potion was working, but the effects weren't immediate and it wouldn't be enough for everything that was wrong with her. This fact was evidenced by the small bright red spots on her rusty-stained bandages.

She couldn't go down to breakfast. Everyone would ask questions and she couldn't tell them anything. Or Malfoy would have her confess to a suicide attempt or something. It was safest to stay away.

Hermione crawled to the side of the bed gingerly, looked under and pulled out a care package from her parents, sent with a healthy dose of guilt. She felt a flash of sadness again at the thought of her parents. None of her friends even knew yet. They were growing apart so fast.

Eating some dried fruit from a plastic bag for breakfast, she shoved some baked goods into her book satchel for lunch. At least she could put her friends off for a little while.

(:)--=

At breakfast, Ron was as usual stuffing his face and talking at the same time. "So how'd it go last night, Gin?"

"All right. I got back late, though." She stretched and yawned. "Thanks for your cloak, Harry, I would have been dogmeat."

"No problem, I thought you might need it."

She pushed her eggs around on her plate absently. "It was a good call."

Ron looked back and forth between them, waiting for something to happen. It didn't. "So where's Hermione again?"

Ginny shrugged. "I knocked on her door, she said she was sleeping in a bit."

"Yeah, don't blame her," Harry commented.

"Did she sound okay?"

"What are you guys talking about?"

Ron glanced at Harry, then back at his sister. "She didn't tell you?"

"No."

The boys looked quickly down at their plates. Ginny deserved to know, it was just that, well . . . Along with being amazingly quick-witted and brave, she was often brash and impulsive. Something they weren't sure the situation required.

"Hello, you promised you'd let me in on things."

Harry sighed. "Yeah. Um, Hermione was beat up pretty badly last night. We found her asleep in the corridor."

"Passed out?" Ginny was shocked.

"You could say that."

"Oh. Do you think this has to do with all the stuff with Malfoy?"

"Pretty sure. She was near the Slytherin common room."

"Oh." They could see the wheels turning in Ginny's head.

Ron put on his best big-brother voice. "Now I know you wanna go talk to her right now, but you know Hermione. Give her some time."

"She'll have time to go see him and get beat up again. Or have him find her."

"She's not stupid, Gin. Her pride's been hurt, give her some space," Harry pleaded.

"Yeah, okay. For now."

She was way too agreeable. Both boys knew that meant she'd already found a way around their request.

"Don't go to Malfoy, either. We don't need you passed out in the hallway tonight."

"Yeah, we have to get some sleep," Ron joked.

It wasn't very funny.

(:)--=

Hermione was a few minutes early to Potions after skipping breakfast. She sat down at her bench and took out her notes. Thank anything they'd studied Amicus Juice in class. Actually, scratch that. That's probably where Draco got the idea.

She found herself distracted from unrolling the parchment, looking in her satchel, staring at the pictures on the wall, until she finally steeled her mind. 'I am not looking for a cure,' she thought angrily. 'I am just seeing how it works.' The pressure stopped and she sat, breathing hard for a minute as she found the right place on the paper.

"Amicus Juice," she read quietly to herself, "fifth century, blah, blah, conscious suggestion, blah, oh, here we go. Invasive although limited, master must maintain visual contact with and give specific direct commands. Once given, commands extend as long as they are relevant, and subject has virtually no control over obeying them. A relatively simple potion, it's effects wear off in two to three weeks if not refreshed."

"Gods, I'm screwed," Hermione said aloud, rolling the parchment back up.

"Well, that's news," Malfoy sneered. "Who's the unlucky bloke?"

"Shut up." Hermione suddenly got up and sat on the floor. "Stop it."

"Excellent. And on my first try, too. I'm going to be famous for this."

She climbed back up into her seat. "If you live to tell about it."

"I don't think I'm the one who should be worried about surviving." Malfoy chose his seat, three desks behind and to the left of her.

Wait, Hermione thought, staring at her desk. 'Virtually no control?' 'Virtually?' She really, really wished she was allowed to research this. He'd cut out her feet from under her.

(:)--=

"Do you think we were right about what we said to Ginny?"

"Dunno." Harry slammed his books on the table.

Ron stared at the doorway as if willing Hermione to appear. "What's she gotten herself into?"

"Dunno."

"Ah. You're still bloody pissed at me, aren't you?"

"Yep."

"Ah."

(:)--=

Ginny fingered the object in her pocket and thought about how much she hated to bide her time. If something had to be done, why not now, forcefully and definitely? She sighed and put her head down on her desk. Maybe if she faked sick she would be able to make a move now.

McGonagall tapped her desk sharply with her wand, making Ginny jump.

Maybe not.

(:)--=

"Mindy, you're going to be late," a second year Mindy barely recognized chided her. Mindy didn't recognize many people anymore in Slytherin, just pale hands and flickering gray eyes and a sense of longing drowned in despair and desperation.

The girl waved a hand in front of Mindy's face. "Hello?"

Mindy's hand shot out and held the girl's wrist. "I've had a bad night, and I'd thank you to remember who the hell you're doing that to."

The girl walked away, wearing the same look she imagined she wore those times when he'd slapped her or turned her away, and she didn't particularly care. She still tasted him. The world was spinning around her and it wasn't paying special attention to anyone, least of all her.

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Author's note: Yeah, I know it's sorta shorty, but it's one-fifteen in the morning and I have a long day of drawing for class tomorrow (yay, homework!) and then class Monday so no updates for at least two days. Next chap is key so I don't want to do it up cheap.

Check out my favorite stories (especially the one by arbitrary) for some killer Hermione/Draco fics to tide you over (strangely enough, everything I read ends up being Herm/Draco romances). Leave me a note if you want me to email you when a new chapter's up.

arbitrary- such a nice review, and you did the same thing to me, having me read your cool story instead of work on mine, shame!

dracoNmione- Um, I'd be interested in hearing what you think is funny about my story. I appreciate your review, but wow, that wasn't where I was going with this at all.

spidermonkeesrkewl- Yeah, I was being a little unclear about the potion, I hope this part helps out. If you have any other questions, let me know. Sometimes as a writer, it's like, you know what's going on but you forget to convey it as well as you should. Thank you.

CHECK ya later --Hale Comet