Giving Up Isn't an Option

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I only own the plot and characters that obviously don't belong to the books. 'Uncle Snape' is Slytherin Girl's idea and I have permission to use it,

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Previously:

She walked up to him and slapped him. "How dare you, you son of a bitch. You had no right to trick me into coming here. Everyone that knows me knows that if you want something you ask unless you want to be on my bad side. And guess what, you just screwed up. To bad I don't believe in forgiveness."

"She's telling the truth you know" Hermione looked behind her to see Blaise standing there, looking kind of confused.

"How do you know her?" Andrieos asked

"Andrieos, I told you, they used to be best friends" Ava muttered to him.

"How would you know that bitch?" Blaise wheeled on her. "It was you, wasn't it? Its you that's been following us for all these years"

"So what if it was. And I wasn't following you, I was following her" she said pointing to Hermione.

Hermione glared at her. "That's why I felt like I knew you from somewhere"

"You think?" Ava exclaimed rather sarcastically, "I thought I was weird when you didn't show any recognition"

"Watch it" Hermione said.

"Someone's here that really wants to say hi Granger" Blaise quickly changed the subject before Hermione did something she would later regret.

Hermione let herself get pulled away from the other two. She was kind of glad to be rid of them. She found herself coming up on Justin, who had the same look of confusion on his face that Blaise had. Then she saw Draco, playing with something around his neck.

Oh shit, she thought, exactly who I wanted to see

Draco looked up to see Hermione coming towards him and Justin. He had been so surprised when she appeared in the middle of the circle. Yet, what surprised him the most was her perfect willingness to join the Dark Side.

He figured that she had been pushed to far or she had another plan in mind. He wasn't sure what it was, but he was hoping that it was the second. Just he had no clue what that plan could be.

Blaise looked at Justin and knew that each had the same thing running through their minds. Let's leave these two alone.

They could catch up with Hermione later, but Draco had a few more pressing matters with her.

Draco shot them both a look, telling them not to leave, but Blaise smirked and he and Justin both apparated out of there.

His gaze turned back to Hermione. "Granger. . ."

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"No Malfoy, you've said quite enough to me in the last few days. I have half a mind to beat the hell out of you right now, but A) I don't believe in doing that to others, I know what its like and B) it wouldn't be very lady like now would it?"

"No it wouldn't, though I wish you would. I deserve everything that you have in mind to do to me, but you wont. Admit it Granger, I'm not the only one have trouble getting over the past"

"To true Malfoy, to true, but your forgetting something, I no longer feel. Its like my entire being has become completely numb and I hate it. Why do you think I agreed to this so quickly? Not for the power, god no. I could care less about power. No, I agreed because I can be around people like me. People that are numb, that understand what its like to live in this world"

"You don't get it do you? These people are nothing like you! And you know that if you tried you would be fine. You could feel again. That that wall you built would shrink, not crumble. Crumbling implies that it can be built again, but you allow it to shrink and you can keep it away forever"

"It would be smart to stick to your own advice would it not? You let that wall come right back up didn't you? You let go of all feeling and gave up when your were needed most, but of course you did. You're a coward, and nothing more. You fear things that needn't be feared, you forget things that you should remember and you back down when you're threatened. Draco Malfoy, you need to grow a back bone and learn to keep it!

"I never truly feared you and I haven't feared anyone that was in this room tonight for years. Fear complicates life when complications aren't needed. It's used for people to hide behind. It's a sign of pure weakness."

She finished, and felt the gaze of everyone in that room on her and Draco. She spun around. "What the hell do you think you're starring at? Leave"

And they, amazingly, all complied with her. Apparently none of them wanted to be on the receiving end of Hermione's anger, and with good reason.

Draco just stood there, starring at the woman in front of him, She was the only one that was capable of making him silent. Capable of making him back down. But he didn't want to back down this time and finally he spoke,

"Granger, I fear nothing. There is nothing in this world to fear. I lost all that was important, so why should anything else affect me? I'm just as numb as you. And if I'm the coward, why were you the one to run the second time? I understood my mistake and I tried to fix it but you ran. You broke a promise and ran for your life. Your just as much a coward as I am and you know it, but you don't have the courage to admit it"

"I'm no coward Malfoy, and I did not run. I just made a decision to not walk down that road again. For some reason, I don't believe in second chances. Every person I ever gave a second chance to screwed me over, so why the hell should I trust anyone else?"

"Because, I told you back then that I would always love you, yet you seemed to have forgotten. And if you don't want give me, or anyone else for that matter, a second chance, than your showing what you consider a weakness. Your showing fear. it's the miniscule things that have always irked you Granger, never the big things. Sure they made you mad but never scared. No, only small things made you scared"

"You broke many promises Malfoy, why should I have trusted that one? Why should I have chosen that one particular promise to believe? Why should I have believed a single word uttered out of your mouth that year?

"And no, small things don't frighten me. Like you I lost everything that scared me, but I lost them all long before you did. There is nothing left on this earth for me to fear"

"Granger, You should've trusted that promise because its one that I never intend to break and it's the biggest promise that you can make to another person. And there's no way you'll never admit to weakness, much like someone else I know. There's only one thing that will kill you, you know what that is?"

Hermione shook her head but she was pretty sure of the answer. She had almost always known this answer. It was her greatest weakness, her only fear.

"Granger, its you. No one will kill you, you will kill you. You know it too. I can see that glint in your eyes. The only thing that you've never been able to hide from those who seek it. Hermione, make sure that you deal with it. Your not invincible, but you seem to think that. Make sure that you know what you just got yourself into. That you know what you just did with you life, that of which was handed to you to live. The life that was saved by others risking their lives.

"The other two seemed to have grasped that and they got over all that pain, but you insist on holding onto it. You don't seem to have a firm grasp on that. And know that you'll be your own undoing" with that he apparated out and landed in his room, 6 floors up.

Hermione stood for several minutes, completely still and shocked at what had just been said to her. She knew that she, herself, was what would kill her. She also knew that everything he had said was true.

It was at that moment that a full realization of what she had done hit her. She had betrayed everyone that cared about her. She had screwed over every relationship that she had ever had. Well, maybe not all, but most. She had been the one to break it off or turn her back, not the other way around.

She apparated up to her room to try and sleep. How she knew where the room was, one will never know. But once changed and in bed, she lay there. She willed sleep to come and take her into a world that wasn't reality. But it wouldn't, it refused to come.

After hours of tossing and turning, sleep finally came. The last thought that ran through her head was Oh my god. What have I done?

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Hey

I promised to have one out this weekend, its 5:49 on Friday and I'm just finishing. I hope that you all enjoy. Reviews appreciated!

L&H Pure Mudblood