CHAPTER 2: BLOOD BATHS
Draco awoke with a start, blinded by sunlight. At first, he was surprised not to hear Crabbe and Goyle's snores, as he had grown accustomed to this every morning, then suddenly remembered he had his own room now because he was Head Boy.
Yawning and stretching, he got out of bed and stood in front of his mirror to admire his own reflection, as he did every morning. He shuddered. Seeing his own grey eyes reminded him of his father. My father, he thought in disgust.
Just then, a loud "OUCH!" startled him and he went out of his room to see what happened. He was obviously trying hard not to laugh at the fallen form of Hermione at the foot of the stairs.
Even though he didn't loathe the girl as much as he did before, he couldn't help it. He laughed so hard at the sight before him.
Hermione glared at him, massaging her butt. "Shut up, Malfoy! Don't start with me! I don't have a nice morning today!" she told him.
Draco stopped laughing and approached her. "Really, Granger, it's not a crime to laugh," he said, smirking.
"Well, for you it is-" Her sentence was cut short when Draco offered her his hand.
"It is what?" Draco asked.
"Nothing," Hermione said and looked suspiciously at Draco's outstretched hand.
"I don't bite, Granger," Draco told her.
"Oh, um..." Hermione said and hesitantly took his hand. "Thanks..."
"Not that I care," Draco mumbled and he climbed up the stairs to grab his clothes and headed to the bathroom to take a bath. Though it wasn't as grand as the bathrooms in Malfoy Manor, he thought it might suffice.
After stripping off, he took a dip in the tub and closed his eyes. Instantly, his thoughts wandered back to his no-good summer. He wished that he could just forget those uneventful things that happened, but he couldn't. He thought of what he had just did with Hermione, Potter's mudblood best friend. If his father found out what he had done, Draco knew he didn't care anymore and that would be one positive thing. He could do whatever he wants now. He is free at last.
He glanced at the clock hanging on the bathroom wall. The short hand of the clock was pointing to eight, meaning he had been in the tub for almost an hour and classes are about to get started in a few minutes. But he couldn't bring himself to get up, the cool water was keeping him glued.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Malfoy, get out there this instant!"
It was Hermione. She seemed quite hurried.
"What's the matter, Granger? It isn't right to just bang the door while someone here's trying to relax," Draco snapped.
"Well, it also isn't right to act like you *own* the bathroom!" she shouted back. Draco was positive she was fuming now.
"It's not me who shouted, 'Malfoy, get out there this instant!'," Draco said in a high pitched, girly voice.
"But you've been there for an hour! And I need the bathroom!" Hermione yelled.
"Why the hurry?" Draco said.
"Malfoy!" he heard her screech. "I'm going to be late for class! And so are you!"
Draco laughed. The idea of Hermione, top of everything, being late made him happy. "Well, Potions is next and I'm sure Snape will understand the reason for my *tardiness*. As for you..." he said, chortling.
He expected Hermione to burst anytime or to continue banging on the door, but she did nothing of the sort. "Malfoy...please..." she said, almost desparately.
Had his ears deceived him? Here was Hermione who hated him, actually saying "Please?" Right then he decided to leave the tub, but not until he heard her say it one last time.
"What did you say?" he asked, grinning.
But there was no answer. He heard Hermione's footsteps and the loud banging of the door. Wondering what had happened, he stood up, dried himself, got dressed etc. and went out of the bathroom. He thought of going to Hermione's room to see what became of her but shook it off, remembering he still have classes.
When he reached Snape's classroom, the lesson had already begun.
"Mr. Malfoy, it seems that you're five minutes late," Snape said coldly. The rest of the class looked at him. "Very well, take your seat and try not to be late again."
Draco nodded and calmly walked on his seat between Crabbe and Goyle.
"I can't believe Snape just did that! I mean, the last time, he took 50 points from Gryffindor just because we were a few *seconds* late!" he heard Ron complain to Harry, who nodded furiously.
That's when he noticed that Hermione's seat was empty. It surprised him greatly because Hermione never skipped classes. But then again, who would attend classes without taking a bath? He thought.
But something was bothering him. What if something happened to Hermione? It would be all his fault. He looked at Crabbe and Goyle.
"Care to wonder where Granger is?" he said, trying not to sound worried.
The two shrugged. "Dunno, never saw her. Maybe she's sick!" Goyle said happily.
"Yeah," Draco said, "Sick."
+++++++++++++++++++
Hermione, meanwhile, was locked up in her room, trying very hard not to think of the throbbing pain in her whole body. It hurt like hell. She was curled up like a ball, lying on her bed, letting silent crystal tears cascade down her pink rosy cheeks.
Why does it have to be like this? She thought angrily.
Suddenly, she became aware that the pain is increasing and she bit her lip painfully as she felt blood ooze from her chest, staining her new robes.
When she couldn't take it any longer, she slowly stood up, although it was murder for her, and grabbed a small bottle on her top drawer and made her way to the bathroom. She hoped against hope that Draco had already left. He had already did enough by not letting her inside the bathroom and she didn't want him to know about her biggest secret.
She undressed, even though with her every move, her body was struggling with pain. With her remaining ounce of strength, she went inside the bathtub and as she sat down, she pulled out the bottle, opened it, and poured three drops of it into the water, which instantly turned into a blood red color.
Hermione just rested there and the longer she stayed inside, the more the pain reduced until she was completely relaxing.
+++++++++++++++++++
Lunch came and Draco still has no sign of Hermione. Maybe he could live with Hermione not attending Potions, but for her to miss all the subjects before lunch, he wasn't sure what to do.
He looked over to the Gryffindor table and saw that the Wonder Twins were gone.
However, he had no time to think of hwy, because Pansy immediately spotted him and started flirting with him. Disgusted and irritated, he left the Great Hall and hurried to his common room before she could follow him any further.
To his surprise, there seated on the couch by the fireplace were Harry and Ron.
"Ehem," Draco said, clearing his throat. "What do you think you're doing here? How did you know the password?"
"We're not Hermione's friends for nothing," Ron replied.
Has the world gone upside down? Draco thought. Hermione's disappeared to who knows where, and here were her best friends and Draco's enemies greeting him like they were old pals. But then he noticed that both were sitting, pale faced, like they were just stupefied. "What's with you today, Potter? Weasley?" he sneered.
"None of your business, Malfoy," Harry said.
Draco cocked an eyebrow. "Really? Then tell me what happened to Granger instead?" he asked.
Then, Ron was struck with a sudden suspicion. He grabbed Draco by the throat and pinned him to the wall. "You didn't happen to do anything to her, did you?" he asked fiercely.
Harry, who's smarter than Ron, tried to stop him. "Ron, let's not jump into conclusions," he told him.
"Conclusions? You know he did it! After all, they live in the same room together!" Ron exclaimed.
"Did-what? What exactly is going on?!" Draco demanded.
"Put him down, Ron!" Harry yelled.
Ron reluctantly did so.
Draco coughed. "Thanks, Potter," he muttered.
Harry and Ron looked stunned.
"So what were you saying about Granger?" Draco asked instead.
Ron felt his anger come back again. "I want to know what you did to her!" he exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at him.
Draco was taken aback. "Excuse me?!" he said angrily. "I did nothing to her! Besides, I don't know what you're talking about!"
Harry refrained Ron from breaking Draco's neck.
"Liar!" Ron spat. "What did you do to Hermione? How come she was taking a bath in blood!"
"I told you it wasn't blood, Ron!" Harry insisted.
Draco, however, was dumbstruck. "She WHAT?!" he exclaimed.
"Don't act all innocent, Malfoy! You probably put her under the Imperius or something so she could miss all her classes and then soak herself in blood!" Ron said angrily.
"Do you actually know what you're saying, Weasel? You don't even have proof!" Draco shouted back, angry that he was being accused of something he didn't do. Well, maybe it was his fault Hermione wasn't able to attend Potions class, but he didn't have anything to do with the blood thing, right? He wasn't sure.
"You going here when everyone else is at lunch is enough proof that you've been plotting something!" Ron exclaimed.
"For your tiny brain to understand, Weasley, I skipped lunch because I cannot stand Pansy and not because of what you think!" Draco yelled.
Harry, who was tired of doing nothing but watch, stepped in the middle. "Stop it! Ron, I think he's innocent."
Draco smirked. "See? Even Potter believes me."
"Harry does not-"
"What in Merlin's name is going on here?"
They turned around to see Hermione in her school robes, looking as normal as ever, although it wasn't what Ron and Harry were thinking. It was as if time froze, for no one was moving and three pairs of eyes were fixed on Hermione.
"Well? Why have you turned silent all of a sudden? What are you doing here anyway?" Hermione asked, a frown etched in her face.
Her best friends were speechless so Draco decided to just be truthful. "You see, Granger...Potter and Weasley saw you taking a bath in blood, and they were accusing me that I was the cause," Draco said casually as if it was nothing but normal.
Harry and Ron shot daggers in his direction.
Hermione, meanwhile, looked like she was Petrified. Her eyes were wide and her mouth wide open. For a moment she just stood there in the same position.
"Hermione, it's not true, is it?" Ron demanded.
Finally, Hermione talked. "Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter! I can't believe you! You were *peeking* at me while I was in the tub?!" she cried.
So that was what she was thinking.
Harry and Ron blushed as red as a tomato.
"We were..."
"It isn't what you think..."
"It isn't what you think?!" Hermione exclaimed in disbelief.
Draco cleared his throat. "Granger, calm down. Actually, Potter and Weasley here, went here just to check on you, seeing as you hadn't attended half of the day's classes and they walked in on you in the bathtub," he lied, but by the looks of Harry and Ron's dumbfounded faces, he actually made a right guess.
"It wasn't our fault the door wasn't locked," Harry said simply.
Now it was Hermione's turn to blush. "Well, I..."
"So it's true you did bath in *blood*?" Draco wanted to know.
Hermione stared at him, wide eyed. "Of course not! What non-sense!" she exclaimed.
"But we saw it," Ron insisted.
"Ron, it was just a new bubble bath flavor, dark cherry. It was really supposed to look like blood though," Hermione told him.
Ron looked so embarrassed.
"See? I told you it wasn't blood!" Harry told Ron, who couldn't utter a word.
"I'll leave you three to kill each other," Draco said and after being watched by three pairs of eyes, he went to his room, an odd expression on his face.
"I swear I saw her eyes wide with panic and worry..." he thought, "...she was lying...and I know it."
++++++++++++++++++ Thanks for the reviews! I love you, people!!!!! What do you think of this chapter? C'mon, review!!!
Draco awoke with a start, blinded by sunlight. At first, he was surprised not to hear Crabbe and Goyle's snores, as he had grown accustomed to this every morning, then suddenly remembered he had his own room now because he was Head Boy.
Yawning and stretching, he got out of bed and stood in front of his mirror to admire his own reflection, as he did every morning. He shuddered. Seeing his own grey eyes reminded him of his father. My father, he thought in disgust.
Just then, a loud "OUCH!" startled him and he went out of his room to see what happened. He was obviously trying hard not to laugh at the fallen form of Hermione at the foot of the stairs.
Even though he didn't loathe the girl as much as he did before, he couldn't help it. He laughed so hard at the sight before him.
Hermione glared at him, massaging her butt. "Shut up, Malfoy! Don't start with me! I don't have a nice morning today!" she told him.
Draco stopped laughing and approached her. "Really, Granger, it's not a crime to laugh," he said, smirking.
"Well, for you it is-" Her sentence was cut short when Draco offered her his hand.
"It is what?" Draco asked.
"Nothing," Hermione said and looked suspiciously at Draco's outstretched hand.
"I don't bite, Granger," Draco told her.
"Oh, um..." Hermione said and hesitantly took his hand. "Thanks..."
"Not that I care," Draco mumbled and he climbed up the stairs to grab his clothes and headed to the bathroom to take a bath. Though it wasn't as grand as the bathrooms in Malfoy Manor, he thought it might suffice.
After stripping off, he took a dip in the tub and closed his eyes. Instantly, his thoughts wandered back to his no-good summer. He wished that he could just forget those uneventful things that happened, but he couldn't. He thought of what he had just did with Hermione, Potter's mudblood best friend. If his father found out what he had done, Draco knew he didn't care anymore and that would be one positive thing. He could do whatever he wants now. He is free at last.
He glanced at the clock hanging on the bathroom wall. The short hand of the clock was pointing to eight, meaning he had been in the tub for almost an hour and classes are about to get started in a few minutes. But he couldn't bring himself to get up, the cool water was keeping him glued.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Malfoy, get out there this instant!"
It was Hermione. She seemed quite hurried.
"What's the matter, Granger? It isn't right to just bang the door while someone here's trying to relax," Draco snapped.
"Well, it also isn't right to act like you *own* the bathroom!" she shouted back. Draco was positive she was fuming now.
"It's not me who shouted, 'Malfoy, get out there this instant!'," Draco said in a high pitched, girly voice.
"But you've been there for an hour! And I need the bathroom!" Hermione yelled.
"Why the hurry?" Draco said.
"Malfoy!" he heard her screech. "I'm going to be late for class! And so are you!"
Draco laughed. The idea of Hermione, top of everything, being late made him happy. "Well, Potions is next and I'm sure Snape will understand the reason for my *tardiness*. As for you..." he said, chortling.
He expected Hermione to burst anytime or to continue banging on the door, but she did nothing of the sort. "Malfoy...please..." she said, almost desparately.
Had his ears deceived him? Here was Hermione who hated him, actually saying "Please?" Right then he decided to leave the tub, but not until he heard her say it one last time.
"What did you say?" he asked, grinning.
But there was no answer. He heard Hermione's footsteps and the loud banging of the door. Wondering what had happened, he stood up, dried himself, got dressed etc. and went out of the bathroom. He thought of going to Hermione's room to see what became of her but shook it off, remembering he still have classes.
When he reached Snape's classroom, the lesson had already begun.
"Mr. Malfoy, it seems that you're five minutes late," Snape said coldly. The rest of the class looked at him. "Very well, take your seat and try not to be late again."
Draco nodded and calmly walked on his seat between Crabbe and Goyle.
"I can't believe Snape just did that! I mean, the last time, he took 50 points from Gryffindor just because we were a few *seconds* late!" he heard Ron complain to Harry, who nodded furiously.
That's when he noticed that Hermione's seat was empty. It surprised him greatly because Hermione never skipped classes. But then again, who would attend classes without taking a bath? He thought.
But something was bothering him. What if something happened to Hermione? It would be all his fault. He looked at Crabbe and Goyle.
"Care to wonder where Granger is?" he said, trying not to sound worried.
The two shrugged. "Dunno, never saw her. Maybe she's sick!" Goyle said happily.
"Yeah," Draco said, "Sick."
+++++++++++++++++++
Hermione, meanwhile, was locked up in her room, trying very hard not to think of the throbbing pain in her whole body. It hurt like hell. She was curled up like a ball, lying on her bed, letting silent crystal tears cascade down her pink rosy cheeks.
Why does it have to be like this? She thought angrily.
Suddenly, she became aware that the pain is increasing and she bit her lip painfully as she felt blood ooze from her chest, staining her new robes.
When she couldn't take it any longer, she slowly stood up, although it was murder for her, and grabbed a small bottle on her top drawer and made her way to the bathroom. She hoped against hope that Draco had already left. He had already did enough by not letting her inside the bathroom and she didn't want him to know about her biggest secret.
She undressed, even though with her every move, her body was struggling with pain. With her remaining ounce of strength, she went inside the bathtub and as she sat down, she pulled out the bottle, opened it, and poured three drops of it into the water, which instantly turned into a blood red color.
Hermione just rested there and the longer she stayed inside, the more the pain reduced until she was completely relaxing.
+++++++++++++++++++
Lunch came and Draco still has no sign of Hermione. Maybe he could live with Hermione not attending Potions, but for her to miss all the subjects before lunch, he wasn't sure what to do.
He looked over to the Gryffindor table and saw that the Wonder Twins were gone.
However, he had no time to think of hwy, because Pansy immediately spotted him and started flirting with him. Disgusted and irritated, he left the Great Hall and hurried to his common room before she could follow him any further.
To his surprise, there seated on the couch by the fireplace were Harry and Ron.
"Ehem," Draco said, clearing his throat. "What do you think you're doing here? How did you know the password?"
"We're not Hermione's friends for nothing," Ron replied.
Has the world gone upside down? Draco thought. Hermione's disappeared to who knows where, and here were her best friends and Draco's enemies greeting him like they were old pals. But then he noticed that both were sitting, pale faced, like they were just stupefied. "What's with you today, Potter? Weasley?" he sneered.
"None of your business, Malfoy," Harry said.
Draco cocked an eyebrow. "Really? Then tell me what happened to Granger instead?" he asked.
Then, Ron was struck with a sudden suspicion. He grabbed Draco by the throat and pinned him to the wall. "You didn't happen to do anything to her, did you?" he asked fiercely.
Harry, who's smarter than Ron, tried to stop him. "Ron, let's not jump into conclusions," he told him.
"Conclusions? You know he did it! After all, they live in the same room together!" Ron exclaimed.
"Did-what? What exactly is going on?!" Draco demanded.
"Put him down, Ron!" Harry yelled.
Ron reluctantly did so.
Draco coughed. "Thanks, Potter," he muttered.
Harry and Ron looked stunned.
"So what were you saying about Granger?" Draco asked instead.
Ron felt his anger come back again. "I want to know what you did to her!" he exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at him.
Draco was taken aback. "Excuse me?!" he said angrily. "I did nothing to her! Besides, I don't know what you're talking about!"
Harry refrained Ron from breaking Draco's neck.
"Liar!" Ron spat. "What did you do to Hermione? How come she was taking a bath in blood!"
"I told you it wasn't blood, Ron!" Harry insisted.
Draco, however, was dumbstruck. "She WHAT?!" he exclaimed.
"Don't act all innocent, Malfoy! You probably put her under the Imperius or something so she could miss all her classes and then soak herself in blood!" Ron said angrily.
"Do you actually know what you're saying, Weasel? You don't even have proof!" Draco shouted back, angry that he was being accused of something he didn't do. Well, maybe it was his fault Hermione wasn't able to attend Potions class, but he didn't have anything to do with the blood thing, right? He wasn't sure.
"You going here when everyone else is at lunch is enough proof that you've been plotting something!" Ron exclaimed.
"For your tiny brain to understand, Weasley, I skipped lunch because I cannot stand Pansy and not because of what you think!" Draco yelled.
Harry, who was tired of doing nothing but watch, stepped in the middle. "Stop it! Ron, I think he's innocent."
Draco smirked. "See? Even Potter believes me."
"Harry does not-"
"What in Merlin's name is going on here?"
They turned around to see Hermione in her school robes, looking as normal as ever, although it wasn't what Ron and Harry were thinking. It was as if time froze, for no one was moving and three pairs of eyes were fixed on Hermione.
"Well? Why have you turned silent all of a sudden? What are you doing here anyway?" Hermione asked, a frown etched in her face.
Her best friends were speechless so Draco decided to just be truthful. "You see, Granger...Potter and Weasley saw you taking a bath in blood, and they were accusing me that I was the cause," Draco said casually as if it was nothing but normal.
Harry and Ron shot daggers in his direction.
Hermione, meanwhile, looked like she was Petrified. Her eyes were wide and her mouth wide open. For a moment she just stood there in the same position.
"Hermione, it's not true, is it?" Ron demanded.
Finally, Hermione talked. "Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter! I can't believe you! You were *peeking* at me while I was in the tub?!" she cried.
So that was what she was thinking.
Harry and Ron blushed as red as a tomato.
"We were..."
"It isn't what you think..."
"It isn't what you think?!" Hermione exclaimed in disbelief.
Draco cleared his throat. "Granger, calm down. Actually, Potter and Weasley here, went here just to check on you, seeing as you hadn't attended half of the day's classes and they walked in on you in the bathtub," he lied, but by the looks of Harry and Ron's dumbfounded faces, he actually made a right guess.
"It wasn't our fault the door wasn't locked," Harry said simply.
Now it was Hermione's turn to blush. "Well, I..."
"So it's true you did bath in *blood*?" Draco wanted to know.
Hermione stared at him, wide eyed. "Of course not! What non-sense!" she exclaimed.
"But we saw it," Ron insisted.
"Ron, it was just a new bubble bath flavor, dark cherry. It was really supposed to look like blood though," Hermione told him.
Ron looked so embarrassed.
"See? I told you it wasn't blood!" Harry told Ron, who couldn't utter a word.
"I'll leave you three to kill each other," Draco said and after being watched by three pairs of eyes, he went to his room, an odd expression on his face.
"I swear I saw her eyes wide with panic and worry..." he thought, "...she was lying...and I know it."
++++++++++++++++++ Thanks for the reviews! I love you, people!!!!! What do you think of this chapter? C'mon, review!!!