Disclaimer: Everybody knows the drill by now. J.K. Rowling. Everything. Hers. Not mine. Capish?

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Several weeks went by with their charade intact. Ginny was aware of their deception, and her eyes lit with unholy amusement every time Draco's eyes slid sideways to touch on Hermione, or vice versa. Harry and Ron didn't have an inkling of what was going on, but they were desperately relieved that Hermione was acting normally again. The only thing that did puzzle them was that Draco completely avoided all four of them. Normally if he passed Harry in the halls he would say something nasty. Now he simply passed by with a threatening glare.

They were at breakfast one day when Harry said abruptly, "I want to know what's up with Malfoy. It makes me nervous that he's acting so differently."

Hermione blinked at him. "You know that saying about looking a gift horse in the mouth, Harry?"

He glanced at her. "Yeah," he said slowly.

She rolled her eyes. "Well you're halfway down its throat. Lighten up and just be happy that he's laying off."

"But it's so unlike him," Harry insisted. "I'm not too sure that he hasn't got something up his sleeve."

"Maybe he's gotten himself a girl," Ginny said offhandedly. "Maybe he's mellowed now that he's on a leash."

Hermione shot Ginny a panicked look behind Harry's back, and Ginny just grinned at her. Harry turned to look at Ginny with a raised eyebrow. "Malfoy on a leash? I wish I'd live to see the day. No, he's been messing around with Pansy for years now, and she hasn't mellowed him. It has to be something different." Then he blinked down at her. "Did you just say that he's on a leash? Meaning that he's on a leash because he has a woman?"

Ginny looked up at him innocently and sipped at her pumpkin juice. "Did I?"

"I think you did," he said slowly, then he narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm not on a leash," he said firmly, as if he were trying to convince himself.

Ginny smiled into her cup and then patted Harry's arm gently. "Of course not, my love."

Relieved, Harry turned and started talking to Ron about Quidditch. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and shot Ginny a glare for scaring her. Ginny just grinned wickedly. Grumbling to herself about nosy best friends, Hermione dug into her breakfast with a new fervor.

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That night, Hermione and Draco had planned to meet in the Room of Requirement. Hermione threw on an oversized sweatshirt and some jeans and left her hair to hang down her back. Then she crept out of the Gryffindor tower and toward the Room of Requirement. When she emerged from behind the Fat Lady's portrait, she thought she heard a quick shoe scuff and she looked around quickly, feeling her heart hammer with a quick burst of fear. What if she were caught outside at night? That'd be points from Gryffindor. When she didn't hear anything else or see anyone, she moved down the hallway, still feeling uneasy.

She quickened her pace, wanting to reach Draco as soon as possible. Even knowing that she was more than capable of protecting herself from most things, she still wanted Draco's strength beside her and wanted the comfort of his protection. On instinct, she glanced behind her and saw a shadow flit from one corner to another. Her heart slammed into her throat. It's a ghost, she chanted to herself. Just one of the ghosts. They can't hurt me.

She walked faster and faster until she was flat out running, not even caring who heard her. Now she heard the footsteps behind her, matching pace with hers. Her breath sawed in and out of her lungs, burning in her throat with every breath she took. Her mind was wild, wondering what she should do. Should she turn and fight, or try to reach the Room of Requirement where Draco was waiting for her?

She dashed around a corner and glanced behind her. Her head felt light when she saw that the person was definitely not a ghost. Instead it was definitely a man, covered completely by a black cloak. Her hand shot into her coat pocket and withdrew her wand and clutched it tightly. She heard a soft whisper float down the hallway to her ears, and she pushed her legs harder. The bastard was laughing at her. Laughing at her attempts to escape.

She saw the portrait that hid the Room of Requirement down the hallway. Her eyes filled with tears of relief. She was so close! So close, and then Draco would be there. She shot a "Stupefy!" over her shoulder, hoping so slow down her pursuer, but she heard his steady footsteps continue without missing a beat. Then something large slammed into her back, sending her sprawling to the floor. Her wand skittered away into a corner, far out of her reach. She kicked and bit, and heard a man's soft curse as her teeth sank into flesh. He slapped her, making her head ring and momentarily stunning her.

She swung a punch and felt it connect, but he seemed unfazed by her attempts to escape. He ruthlessly pinned her to the cold stone floor, and she felt her panic mount as her body started to get tired, despite her rush of adrenaline. Then long, icy fingers closed around her throat and squeezed once, letting her feel the power in his hands. Her wide, terrified eyes stared up into the darkness of the hood as she twisted frantically beneath his greater weight. His fingers pressed in again, and she felt it start to crush her windpipe. She wheezed and gasped desperately for air, her hands clutching at his wrists, trying to pull his hands away from her throat long enough for her to breathe.

Then she heard running footsteps and a shouted, "Stupefy!" Her attacker looked up, and his hands loosened from her throat. Then he lunged to his feet and dashed down the hallway. Draco rushed up. "Hey, are you ok?" he asked anxiously, then saw that it was Hermione, who was still writhing on the floor, desperately trying to breathe.

His face changed from concern to consuming rage. "Fuck," he snarled. "That son of a bitch." He looked up and started down the hallway to find her attacker and kill him. He knew that if he had found the bastard who had been about to kill her, he would have used an Unforgivable and not regretted it for one second. He hesitated, and then he heard the terrible, gasping sounds as Hermione tried to breathe through her crushed throat. He winced, knowing that he'd hear those sounds in his nightmares.

Knowing that he wouldn't find her attacker, he spun on his heel and rushed back to her and crouched at her side. His hands hovered over her, seeing the damage that had been done. Already bruises and scratches were rising on her pristine white throat, and there was a bruise on her cheekbone. Her sweater was ripped at one shoulder, and her nails were ripped and bleeding from her struggles. He felt rage sweep over him, and tears sting his eyes. Merlin, he could have lost her so easily. If he hadn't come along. . .He shoved those thoughts away and picked her up to cradle her in his lap.

"Easy, baby, easy," he crooned. "C'mon, baby. Breathe for me. Breathe for us." His chest felt so tight that he wasn't sure that it wasn't he who couldn't find air. He felt the terrible wracking of Hermione's body as she tried to suck air into her deprived lungs, and felt her whole body shuddering with the effort.

He swallowed down his tears. Merlin, when had she started to mean so much to him? At first he had just cared about her because he wanted her. Now it was more than that, and he wasn't sure when it had happened. All at once, the thought of losing her made him want to kill. He would never be able to handle losing her. He picked her up gently in his arms and nearly dashed to the Infirmary, shouting for Madam Pomfrey. She emerged from her quarters that were connected to the Infirmary, still dressed in a huge purple nightgown that hung to her feet.

"Young man, there are people resting in here," she scolded. "Please don't be so loud!"

Draco's breath was heaving, and his eyes were wild. Hermione was still having difficulty breathing, and it scared him to death. "She was attacked," he said breathlessly. "Help her. She can't breathe. She can't breathe!"

Madam Pomfrey gasped softly and then hurried forward. "Come here. Lay here down here." She led Draco swiftly to a bed with starched white linens. Feeling reluctant to let her leave the safety of his arms, Draco obediently laid her on the bed. Madam Pomfrey made a swift inspection of Hermione and then rushed over to a small medical kit that was lying on a surgical steel cart. She withdrew something that looked like a Muggle inhaler and pressed it to Hermione's lips. "Suck in air, dear," she said, her eyes worried. Hermione tried, and immediately she started to breathe easier. She sucked eagerly on the device until Pomfrey drew it away, noticing that Hermione was breathing almost normally, although there was a rattle in her throat from the abuse her windpipe had taken.

Blindly, Hermione groped for Draco's hand, and he gripped her hand tightly, feeling his fingers tremble. He had never thought to see Hermione so weak. She was his equal in everything--she would stand up to him in an argument, love him out of his moods, and tell him he was being an ass when he was. He needed her in his life, and he hadn't realized how much until now. He had no idea how she had become so vitally important to him in such a short amount of time, but there it was.

If Madam Pomfrey saw Hermione holding desperately to Draco's hand, she didn't mention it. She made a thorough inspection of Hermione, then sat back on her heels thoughtfully. "You're extremely lucky, Miss Granger," she said with a relieved sigh. "Except for your throat and your bruised cheek, you're mostly all right. Nothing that you need to stay in the Infirmary for. I think you just need to go back to your dormitory and sleep some. That will help the most." She gave Draco a stern look. "I assume that I can trust you to make sure she gets there safely?"

"Absolutely," Draco said, his eyes still on Hermione's face.

Madam Pomfrey nodded briskly. "Good. Miss Granger, I would expect to be summoned to the headmaster's office at some point tomorrow. He will want to know the details of what happened tonight."

Hermione nodded and winced when it hurt her throat. Draco looked up at Madam Pomfrey and drew her slightly away from Hermione's bed so she couldn't hear them. "She's really ok?" he asked in a low voice.

Madam Pomfrey nodded somberly. "She's beat up, there's no doubt of that. But there's nothing more I can do right now for her except to tell her to sleep."

Draco let out a long breath. "Thanks," he muttered, then went back over to Hermione. "C'mon, baby," he said gently. "You need to sleep."

Hermione nodded, her cheeks as white as paper except for the bruise that discolored most of her right cheek. Draco picked her up and carried her down the hallway. Hermione laid her head on his shoulder, wanting nothing more than to rest. She was so tired, and she just wanted to cry. She had been so scared, so sure that he was going to kill her. The remembered terror made her arms clutch convulsively at Draco, and he looked down at her with eyes like hardened chips of flint. I will find out who did this to her, he thought savagely. And when I do---he didn't even finish the thought in his own mind.

He muttered a password, and in Hermione's fogged brain, she wondered absently how he knew the password for Gryffindor's common room. He carried her upstairs, and laid her gently on a bed. She looked around and noticed that it was a single room. The furnishings were sparse, but all of them were elegant. And undeniably masculine. She looked up at him, confusion drawing her brows together.

"Where are we?" she rasped.

He chucked his shoes, and then removed hers more gently. "My room, love. I didn't want to let you out of my sight." He slid into the bed beside her and looped one arm around her to draw her protectively close.

She hesitated. "Draco, I don't want to get in trouble."

"You won't," he soothed. "I'll take you back to your room just before dawn. But I don't want to leave you alone right now, honey. You scared me," he admitted in a bleak voice.

Her eyes filled with tears. "I was so scared," she admitted, burying her face against his shoulder. "All I could think about was that if I just got a little farther, then you'd be there to save me. To protect me and stand beside me."

Draco ground his teeth together. Dammit. He should have known that she was in danger. He should have protected her, like she thought that he would. Instead she had been hurt, almost killed. He knew that he wouldn't easily forgive himself for that. His arms tightened around her when he felt her body shudder with sobs that tore at her already abused throat.

He stroked back her long hair and whispered soothingly to her until her body dropped into a restless sleep. But even after she fell asleep, Draco remained wide awake, his hands stroking her hair and watching the room alertly. In those long hours before dawn, he made a vow to himself. He had failed to protect her tonight, but by Merlin, he wouldn't fail again.

Reviewers:

I am stunned and ecstatic over my reviews. Thank you all so much. It really means a lot that you like my story! I just did a couple shoutouts because there was something in particular I wanted to respond to. But to all the other reviewers that I didn't respond to, you still have much love from me. *hugs*

KayLyynKie~ Wow! I'm really glad you liked it. Don't cry in the library! hehe. Just out of my own rabid curiosity, which part was tearful? I got a little choked up with the Harry and Ginny scene, but that's cause I'm just a big watering pot. *smiles wryly*

Jared~ Hermione is never actually bathing in the moonlight--she's just standing at the shore of the lake with the moonlight spilling over her. She's still clothed and everything. ^_^ hehe. Oh, and I don't know why I put her in Divination. Just for kicks, I suppose. I wasn't really thinking about a particular class when I was writing the chapter, any class would have done just as well for her to forget her homework in. So--no real reason that she's in Divination. ^_^ And yes, I probably did repeat 'single-minded intensity' more than once. I tend to do that with some phrases, so you'll have to bear with me. *smiles*