Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and friends.


Chapter Four: The Start of the Problem

Hermione was sitting on her bed with the curtains shut tightly around her charmed to come open for her only. She was currently cradling her arm against her chest as she flipped through one of the many books that littered her bed.
"Come on where is it?" Hermione muttered to herself. She flipped the page again and finally found what she had been looking for, the Bone Setting charm. She has been searching for it for the last twenty minutes. She started reading the passage on the proper way to cast the charm. As she read about a forth of the way down the page Hermione cringed it would be pretty painful
 for about two hours after she would cast it on her broken arm. Too bad that she couldn't find the one to minimize the appearance of the bruises.
Hermione couldn't even remember what Ron's excuse had been this time. She could feel the tears that she had been so desperately trying to hold back running down her cheeks leaving trails of moisture in their wake. Hermione hastily brushed them off her cheeks. She knew that she needed to get away form Ron but she was afraid of what he would do to her.
   Harry had given her that look this morning when he had seen the bruises on her arm; it was that look that said "You need to tell someone so that it can stop." And "I wish that I could do more." She sighed there was nothing that he could do to help.
   The last time that time that Harry had tried to talk to Ron about the way that he was treating her Ron had attacked Harry, thus ending their six-year friendship. Harry had refused to retaliate and it resulted in Ron beating the hell out of him. Surprisingly it had been Professor Snape and Professor Lupin who had pulled the still swinging form off of a bruised and bleeding Harry. Later that night Ron had come back into the prefect's common room where she had been sitting. He had yanked her aside and threatened that if she told anyone he would kill Harry the next time that he tried to intervene. She knew that he would do it to.

  After the fight Harry had gone to Dumbledore and asked to be resorted. He agreed and in front of the school the next day Harry was resorted. He was only the second person to be granted a resorting in the history of Hogwarts. Surprisingly the other person that had also been granted a resorting was his own mother. Almost everyone had been shocked to hear the sorting hat calmly belt out Slytherin. Ironically the same house that his mother had been placed in. All of the Gryffindors blamed Ron for Harry's change of houses especially the Quidditch team. The only people that talked to him anymore were Seamus and Dean. Because of this Hermione was forbidden to talk to any of her friends. She knew that some of the teachers had noticed
Hermione's change in behavior but most attributed it to Harry switching houses.
    Sometimes she wondered if it would be easier just to end it all. Two well place swipes of a knife and a long hot bath could end all of her pain. But then she thought about Harry and how he would blame himself for not being able to help her. She couldn't do that to him. Harry was her best friend; no he was more than that, but she could never let anyone know how she really felt about her best friend. God how she wished that someone would see through her masquerade and save her.

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   Meanwhile in the Slytherin prefect's common room Harry sat staring unblinkingly at the flames dancing in the fireplace. He had been so absorbed in his own thoughts that hadn't noticed Draco sulk in and sit in the chair across from his own. At least he didn't until Draco cleared his throat rather loudly, in turn causing him to jump at least a foot off of the chair.

   "Fuck Draco, what are you trying to do give me a heart attack." Harry said trying to will his heart rate back down to normal.
   Draco just grimaced. "No, if you died then who would keep me out of Dumbledore's manipulative  clutches?" he said trying to lighten his won dismal mood. "Why does she stay with him?" Draco looked up at Harry and seen that his mouth was hanging open. He put his head down in his hands. 

  Harry looked at Draco in shock. "What are you talking about?" he could feel his heart in his throat; Draco couldn't possibly know what was going on with Hermione. Could he?
  "Don't play stupid Harry, that's Longbottom's job. You know exactly who I am talking about." Draco said exasperatedly.

  Harry sank back into his chair and started watching to fire again. "She is too afraid of what he would do to her and her friends if she left him." Harry sighed, "I tried to talk to Ron about how he was treating her, that was when he attacked me." He rubbed his tired eyes; his headache was coming back with a vengeance. "Right before Professor Snape and Remus broke up the fight he told me that if I told anyone about Hermione he would kill her."
   Draco's heart sank. He wished that there were some way that he could get her away from Ron, before she found herself in a situation that she couldn't get back out of alive.

  "Draco, what are we going to do. We need to come up with a plan, one that will work without Mione getting hurt." Harry said his voice filled with worry. Ever since he had been resorted he had felt like he was betraying Hermione by leaving her to fend off Ron by herself. When he had told her this she had just reassured him that she could handle Ron. He knew that she was lying to them but he didn't say anything. He hated himself for that, he was a bloody coward.

   "Harry, you can't blame yourself for this. It is not your fault that Ron has turned into a psychotic control freak. You know that he was never the same after that incident at the Ministry in our fifth year. That brain really did a number on him, something in him snapped and you know that he has always been a hot head and now he doesn't try to control his anger. And it really doesn't help that he has always been jealous of you and would do anything to make you suffer. Do you really think that he doesn't realize how much you care for Hermione, well he does and he will do anything to get back at you. And if that means hurting Hermione in the process he will." Draco said to Harry solemnly. He really needed Harry to just get over his self-pity and help him find a way to get Ron out of the picture. For good.