A/N: I hate to speed this up so much, but I'm writing on another part of it on paper at school and I'm eager to get to that part of the fic. So I'm going to speed things up a bit event-wise...okay? Oh, and I understand that everyone's a bit OOC...but I figure that time changes people...makes them more mature, so to speak. And honestly, who of you can say that if your father started beating you, you wouldn't change? Or if you stopped cutting yourself or something, you wouldn't change? So I let the years make the difference for me.
And before I begin, the head rooms are kinda like the common rooms...but way different. There's a common room/library right inside of a portrait of young twins...a five year old boy and girl. There are numerous little passages from the Head Rooms to different parts of the castle: The kitchens, each of their common rooms, the hallways outside of each classroom...etc. There's a fire in the library and a CD player that's charmed to play whatever the witch/wizard listening wants it to. In the middle of the room, after the numerous portraits that line the wooden part of the floor...there's carpet in the book shelved part...there's a stairway. Up the stairway, to the right is the Head Girl's room and to the left is the Head Boy's room. A bathroom joins the rooms, and more portraits line the dark hall up to the rooms. The stairs are carpeted.
And now...I welcome you all to Chapter 4.
"Whore!"
"FuckFace!"
"Cum Sucking Gutter Slut!"
"DeathEater Spawn!"
Even as the words left her mouth, Hermione found herself pinned up against the wall of the common room, with Malfoy's hand at her throat. Chocolate eyes widened, and she let out a soft whimper, just the faintest of sounds.
"Don't you EVER call me that, Bitch! You have no IDEA what it's like to be me! No friends in the world to ease your hurt, ever..." Hermione cut him off.
"Because you don't let ANYONE close! How are you supposed to have a true friend if you drive everyone away you dumb asshole!" She grabbed his hand and yanked it away from his throat. His nails were just long enough that they left trails of seeping red behind. "Fuck OFF! YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE TO HAVE IT BAD! JUST BECAUSE YOU HATE YOURSELF DOES NOT GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO HATE OTHERS, TOO."
"Granger..." Malfoy was cut off when Hermione pushed past him and stormed towards the stairs.
He caught her before she'd gone three steps, grabbing her wrist and spinning her around so quickly that she worried for a moment or two about whiplash. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? Nobody cares, I've gotten used to it..."
"Nobody cares, Malfoy, because nobody can get close enough to." Hermione said, softly.
He raked his hands through his hair in frustration, pacing like a tiger in a cage before storming back to her and stopping. "Damn it all! Truce, Granger?" He held out his hand.
"It's Hermione." She smiled, taking it.
"Draco." He said, softly.
Imaginary Line
Hermione looked up from her studies at a knock on the Gryffindor Portrait. Rolling her eyes, she opened the door to let Ron and Harry through. She smiled at them. "Hi."
"Hermione!" She heard the voice from behind her. "I have a question on that essay for you help me out a bit?" Her roommate asked.
"Sure Draco, give me a few moments." She smiled at him in a half-civil manner before turning back to Harry and Ron.
"Well? What do you two want?" She arched an eyebrow. "Hm?"
"What are you doing with that git, Hermione?" Harry asked. "It's not like you to ignore us like this."
"You two are too busy sucking face on Lavender and Ginny when I am around to notice. So I'll just help Draco here with his homework and let you two seek me out when you've decided that I'm no longer something to step on." She glared.
"Well...we have something to give you at breakfast tomorrow." Ron put in, quickly. He didn't want Harry causing any trouble with Malfoy sitting on the green couch in the Library.
"Alright, bye you guys." She smiled and closed the portrait, walking back over to sit beside Draco, who was studying her. "What?"
"How do you stand those two losers?" He asked, his eyes boring into hers. "I know I wouldn't be able to."
She smiled. "Maybe...but they tend to grow on you. You'd be surprised how many times they've actually learned something when they're around me. I just can't make myself shrug them off. Now, what part did you need help on?"
He was gazing at her in...open admiration? Surely not. "Huh? Oh, yeah...he said we needed pickled Mandrake root...but I don't see that on our list of supplies. Which means that I didn't get any in the apothecary...is there anything I can use in substitution?"
She frowned. "I don't remember Mandrake Root being an ingredient...here, let me see." She leaned down over his shoulder, looking at his notes. He felt his breath catch, just slightly, as her signature scent of Strawberries hit him. "Oh!" He felt her giggle. "Here..." She was pointing at a part of his notes. How the hell did she expect him to concentrate when there was a seductress as...PERFECT...As her leaning over his shoulder?
How the hell did she expect the inevitable not to happen? On impulse, he turned his head, kissing her neck. Gods, she tasted just as good as she smelled...
Hermione let him feast for mere moments before pulling away. "Malfoy, what the fuck!...either you're drunk or you're high...but look." She pointed back to the notes. "It says Pickled Manama Root. Not Pickled Mandrake Root." She smiled and stood up, moving over to her own couch to work some more.
"So...is it true?" She asked him, quietly.
"Is what true?" He looked up at her.
"Does your dad...well...does he..." She hesitated.
"Does he beat me?" Draco was silent for a long time before he mustered the courage to answer her. "Yes...he does."
"Oh..." She looked down. "I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it. He's an ass. Nothing else to it." Draco forced a smile before continuing his work. Sighing deeply...he began to write.
Hermione watched him for a while. "Dray." She was surprised at her use of a nickname on him. He looked up, equally surprised.
"Yeah, Mya?" He nearly choked when he realized that he'd used a nickname.
She smiled, it was a faint smile...and it disappeared before it was in full bloom, but it was a smile...a true smile. "I've been there...you're not alone." She looked back down at her books.
Imaginary Line
That night, Hermione walked into the Common Room to see if Harry and Ron were going to eat dinner with everyone else. "Hermione!" She looked up as she heard the former calling her. "Over here!"
"Yeah Hermione! We have our bets all written out. Here, you keep it..." Ron added.
"What the fuck?! You guys got everyone in our year and Ginny's year to bet?! You're SICK!" She glared at them both as they nodded, not understanding what was so wrong.
"Seamus, Neville even?! YOU'RE SICK!" She slammed back into the library and stormed to the CD player in the corner. "Fuck Rock...I need some country."
Soon a beautiful mixture of Country/Bluegrass came on, and Hermione sunk slowly into not her...but Draco's couch. It smelled like him...she'd nearly been driven crazy earlier that day. Holy FUCK she'd nearly been driven crazy. The smell of him had made her stumble over her words until she'd had to move back to her own couch...but now she needed familiarity...she needed the sweet male scent that only he had.
Imaginary Line
Draco walked into the Library through the Twins' portal to hear a HORRENDOUS music was playing out of the CD player in the corner.
"OH MY GOD!" He shouted. "GRANGER! TURN THAT OFF!!!!"
The woman in question gave him an annoyed look. Did she turn off the CD player? Hell no. "Go upstairs if you don't like my music, Ratface."
He glared. "Take that back, Mudblood."
"Make me, Hippogriff's ass.."
"I will, Slugbreath."
Thus began their normal routine. Their arguments were all in good fun, and even though they normally wound up hurting each other's feelings, they were becoming fast friends. "Bring it, Snake wannabe."
"Let's go, Mouse."
"Come on, DeathEater."
He laughed right out. "The day I go anywhere or do anything with Park-In- Slut again is the day that you can honestly and officially call me a DeathEater, Mya." He smiled at her.
"The day that you become a Death Eater is the day that Harry gets a sex change." Hermione smiled back. "And if that happens, I'm so going to kill myself."
"I'll never let that happen." He looked down at her, leaning forward. Right before he kissed her, Hermione turned away and turned off the music.
Draco picked up her notes in a weak attempt to relieve the tension between them. "What's this you're working on?" He ruffled the papers. Something dropped to the floor and he picked it up. His smile slowly turned into a frown as he read it. "Oh my God..." He looked up at her, hurt and betrayal filling his eyes, and Hermione knew that he'd found the piece of paper that she hadn't discarded right away. Without looking back, Draco stormed towards the stairs.
"Draco!" Hermione pleaded. "It's not what you think!"
He whirled, glaring at her from the foot of the stairs. "No? What is it, then? It looked to me like the five of you had bets placed on when I was getting my dark mark!" When she didn't answer, he nodded. "That's what I thought. Do me a favor, Granger. Don't talk to me anymore." He stormed up the steps to the elegant Head Boy's room. Throwing open the door, he turned back.
"And I am NOT going to be a DeathEater!" He screamed, slamming the door behind him.
Down in the Library, Hermione slowly let her tears come as she whispered, "I'm glad." She picked up her books and set them on the coffee table, and then she gathered up his things as well, setting them on the table beside hers. With one last, longing glance up the stairs, the young woman left the room to get dinner from the kitchens.
Imaginary Line
The next morning, Hermione met Harry and Ron at the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room. They were eagerly awaiting her answer...the answer that would tell them who had won their "innocent" wager. She gave into the irresistible urge to slap them both, and then she went off on them.
"You stupid idiots! Your fucking 'innocent' bet cost me what was beginning to turn into a promising friendship! For your information, he's NEVER getting his dark mark! Not as long as I consider him my friend! I'm ashamed of the both of you and I hope losing me for a friend was worth it!" She whirled with the intent of leaving them both to lick their wounds, but she stopped when she saw Draco walking to breakfast with Pansy on his arm. He was staring as if he'd heard, but Pansy, ever oblivious, sneered at the sight of Hermione.
"Lookie here, Mudblood. Drakie's mine again and there's nothing you and your half-assed excuses for friends can do about it!" She noticed the tears dawning in the Head Girl's eyes and, mistaking them, continued. "Too bad. You know, my wonderful Drakie was only screwing you because I was mad at him."
Even though Hermione knew that it wasn't true, even though she knew that Draco would never do that, and even though that wasn't the reason that she was crying, Hermione let this statement drive her into a desperate, sorrow- ridden run. She heard shouts of "Herms!" and "Mya!" behind her, but ignoring the three men calling after her, she ran on blindly.
Somehow arriving at the picture of the blonde five-year-old twins, she gasped out "Dragon Tears" and stumbled in, racing upstairs and throwing open her nightstand drawer. Inside was the shining silver pocket knife that her father had given her when she'd come to Hogwarts...since the one he'd given her in first grade had been taken away by the teachers.
"Only for emergencies!" He'd said, sternly. This was an emergency if there ever was one...even though she hadn't cut herself since the end of their Sixth Year, right before she'd promised Harry, Ron, and her father that she wouldn't ever again, she was desperate this time.
Taking a deep breath, and tying her blonde hair up so that it wouldn't get dirty until she passed out, Hermione slit both of her wrists in two, obviously practiced movements. She then settled into the bathtub and stared at the door. One phrase kept running through her head.
"The day I go anywhere or do anything with Park-In-Slut again is the day that you can honestly and officially call me a DeathEater, Mya." Draco had said, smiling at her.
It was stupid. She just couldn't help it. She was tired...so tired. In less than twenty-four hours, she'd lost all of the friends that she'd ever had. Two to a bet, and one to Voldemort.
A spurt of blood
A shower of red
Will I die this time?
Will I finally be dead?
Imaginary Line
Draco pushed Pansy off for the fifth time that day when he saw Hermione run. "Mya!" He'd shouted, without stopping to consider the consequences. "Mya! Come back!"
He moved to go after her, but Potter and Weasley grabbed him. "You'd better spill, Malfoy." Potter threatened. "What the fuck's up."
Too worried about Hermione to object, Draco looked at the boys holding onto him. "I told her that the day I let Pansy hang on me was the day I became a DeathEater. She said, and I quote, "The day that you become a DeathEater is the day that Harry gets a sex change. And if that happens, I'm so going to kill myself." So I replied that I'd never let that happen." He noticed that Potter and Weasley were both pale. "What?" He asked, suddenly afraid.
It's flowing faster
This bright red blood
Like someone opening
The gates of a flood
Ron gulped. "Sh-she was depressed for years...always cutting herself. She promised us, last year, that she wouldn't anymore..."
"She's kept her promise, so far, but we've always been so very careful not to upset her..." Harry added. "Or so we thought."
"Gods..." Draco whispered, finally appreciating the horrible truth to Hermione's late night stories. "No...Mya!" He ran as fast as his legs would take him. "MYA!" He screamed, begging the girl that couldn't hear him. She couldn't die...he couldn't lose the best...the ONLY friend he'd ever had.
I don't mean to cause pain
I don't want to hurt you
But I'm just not strong enough
This is it, I'm through.
"Dragon Tears!" Draco shouted towards the portrait ahead of him, not even slowing to close it as he pelted up the stairs and into the bathroom. "Mya!" He pleaded again, shaking the weak girl lying in the bathtub.
Everything's turning dark
I can feel myself leaving
I can see your horror
That you wish you were dreaming
Hermione fought through the blur. "Dray..." She murmured. "I'm sorry...about the bet. I didn't...I didn't want them to do it. I should have threw the parchment away." Her voice was fading.
"I'm not mad, Mya...it just shocked me. Now, you have to hold on, please. You have to stay awake."
It's all right now my love
I'm in peace at last
I'll miss you my dear
But my pain is past.
Hermione reached to comfort him, trying desperately to pull herself back...but she fell, her life leaving her as she slumped against him.
I reach to comfort you
I've changed my mind
But it's too late for that
I've left all that I cared for behind
"No!" Draco begged her, his voice breaking and his tears coming. "No, Mya! NO!" He carefully and tenderly loosed her strawberry-scented, bloodstained hair and turned his face into it. Resting there, he let his sobs take over. Harry and Ron, having followed the Slytherin to the room, watched quietly as the Head Boy let sorrow consume him. As the sobs subsided, the man asked. "How many hours has it been since she ran off?"
"Four..." Harry said, and then, not understanding. "How is that important?"
Draco, however, was already inside of his room, digging desperately through his trunk. Finding what he was searching for, he put a long, golden chain around his neck. "Four hours...Four Turns." He said, looking at Harry. "Coming Potter?" He looked down at the Time-Turner and back up again. "Weasley?"
Harry and Ron nodded, moving forward. "Not a word about this. I'll still come back in time. I'll leave a note to the three of us when we walk in on a very naked Hermione...and I shove the two of you into my room. You'll both have to sign it too...so that you'll know that it's not a prank." The other two nodded in agreement, and with a few turns, they disappeared.
When they reappeared...that is, when the world stopped spinning, they were still in Draco's room. The Head Boy scribbled a note, explaining how things had turned out before they'd come back in time and what he wanted the three on their way to do, before opening the Head's portal to right outside of the Gryffindor Corridor. He pulled the other two behind a suit of armor and listened carefully with them.
"You stupid idiots! Your fucking 'innocent' bet cost me what was beginning to turn into a promising friendship!" Draco turned and whispered to the other two.
"When we hear me scream, we'll take another shortcut back to the Head Rooms...I don't have the password to that one...listen...there's Park-In- Slut gloating..."
Sure enough, Pansy's voice was talking. "Too bad. You know, my wonderful Drakie was only screwing you because I was mad at him." Draco's hand closed into a tight fist, and he very nearly called out. Harry moved to quiet him, but he needn't have bothered...
"Mya!" Draco heard himself shout, and he, Harry, and Ron ran back down the hall to Sir Cadogan's portrait.
"Chivalry!" Draco said, and the painting swung open immediately. The three men walked into the Library in time to see Hermione disappear up the stairs. "I'll handle this." He said, quietly. "If she sees you, she'll be suspicious." After a few moments of hesitation, the other two men nodded, and Draco ran up the stairs.
Hermione sunk slowly into the bath, lifting the knife over her left wrist. Without warning, a warm, strong hand clamped over hers. She looked up to protest when a second hand took the knife from her, but the blurry figure had already released her and disappeared through the door. Draco pushed Harry and Ron into Hermione's room and shushed them, pressing his ear to the bathroom door to listen.
"Mya!" Hermione looked up as Draco ran into the room. He jumped into the tub, heedless of the water, and gathered her close. "My Mya..." he whispered. She yelped and pushed him out.
"Draco! I'm naked and...HARRY AND RON?! OUT! ALL OF YOU!" Draco pushed the other two into his room as Hermione began throwing things.
In Hermione's room, Draco grinned. "She's safe now..." He opened a portrait to the Gryffindor Common Room, quietly. Motioning them through, he smiled at them both and nodded when the ordered him to let them know the moment Hermione was upset again...if she got upset again. Draco had every intension of treating the woman like she was the sun, moon, AND stars. He walked in and collapsed on his Green-covered bed when he heard Hermione get out of the tub. Staring at the canopy of enchanted leaves, he listened to the sounds of the forest and closed his eyes, letting sleep claim him.
"Mya..." He whispered in his dream.
Hermione opened the door to Draco's room and looked in at him. She watched him sleep for a few minutes, enjoying the sight, before she walked back down to the Library. Turning on the "forbidden" Country/Bluegrass music, she began reading peacefully.
Imaginary Line
In a few hours, Draco opened his eyes and sat up. He heard music from the library. He smiled...it was Bluegrass music...further testament that Hermione was safe and sound. He walked downstairs, expecting to see the blonde Gryffindor.
"Mya?" He called, gently. Suddenly, he stopped short. The Library walls were covered in blood... "MYA!!!"
Draco sat up with a jolt...realizing that the sun no longer shone through the enchanted trees on his ceiling...showing that it was night. He looked down at his clothes, which were drenched in a cold sweat and clung to his body, chilling him to the bone. The door opened, and he saw Hermione turn off the light to the bathroom as she walked in.
"Dray?" She asked softly. "Are you okay?" She slid onto the bed and he looked down at her.
"Mya..." He whispered... "Yeah...I'm okay. It was just a nightmare."
She smiled. "Okay." She moved to go. With a panicky jolt, Draco grabbed her hand.
"Mya! Stay...please..." He whispered, swallowing his pride. "I can't sleep without someone next to me or a sleeping potion...I have nightmares..."
She looked at him and he could see her hesitate. He was about to change his mind when she shook her head. "I won't stay here...but if you'd like, you may come to my room." She said, gently. He frowned.
"Your room...?"
She nodded. "I can't breathe at night without a vaporizer...I set up a vaporizer in my room..."
He nodded slowly. "Okay..." The two of them stood and walked to her room for the first full night's sleep either would have in months.
A/N: The revisions are FINALLY finished on this chapter...I'll reread the other chapters, but they should make more sense now...and soon the Fic will CONTINUE! YAY! SO HAPPY!!!!!
And before I begin, the head rooms are kinda like the common rooms...but way different. There's a common room/library right inside of a portrait of young twins...a five year old boy and girl. There are numerous little passages from the Head Rooms to different parts of the castle: The kitchens, each of their common rooms, the hallways outside of each classroom...etc. There's a fire in the library and a CD player that's charmed to play whatever the witch/wizard listening wants it to. In the middle of the room, after the numerous portraits that line the wooden part of the floor...there's carpet in the book shelved part...there's a stairway. Up the stairway, to the right is the Head Girl's room and to the left is the Head Boy's room. A bathroom joins the rooms, and more portraits line the dark hall up to the rooms. The stairs are carpeted.
And now...I welcome you all to Chapter 4.
"Whore!"
"FuckFace!"
"Cum Sucking Gutter Slut!"
"DeathEater Spawn!"
Even as the words left her mouth, Hermione found herself pinned up against the wall of the common room, with Malfoy's hand at her throat. Chocolate eyes widened, and she let out a soft whimper, just the faintest of sounds.
"Don't you EVER call me that, Bitch! You have no IDEA what it's like to be me! No friends in the world to ease your hurt, ever..." Hermione cut him off.
"Because you don't let ANYONE close! How are you supposed to have a true friend if you drive everyone away you dumb asshole!" She grabbed his hand and yanked it away from his throat. His nails were just long enough that they left trails of seeping red behind. "Fuck OFF! YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE TO HAVE IT BAD! JUST BECAUSE YOU HATE YOURSELF DOES NOT GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO HATE OTHERS, TOO."
"Granger..." Malfoy was cut off when Hermione pushed past him and stormed towards the stairs.
He caught her before she'd gone three steps, grabbing her wrist and spinning her around so quickly that she worried for a moment or two about whiplash. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? Nobody cares, I've gotten used to it..."
"Nobody cares, Malfoy, because nobody can get close enough to." Hermione said, softly.
He raked his hands through his hair in frustration, pacing like a tiger in a cage before storming back to her and stopping. "Damn it all! Truce, Granger?" He held out his hand.
"It's Hermione." She smiled, taking it.
"Draco." He said, softly.
Imaginary Line
Hermione looked up from her studies at a knock on the Gryffindor Portrait. Rolling her eyes, she opened the door to let Ron and Harry through. She smiled at them. "Hi."
"Hermione!" She heard the voice from behind her. "I have a question on that essay for you help me out a bit?" Her roommate asked.
"Sure Draco, give me a few moments." She smiled at him in a half-civil manner before turning back to Harry and Ron.
"Well? What do you two want?" She arched an eyebrow. "Hm?"
"What are you doing with that git, Hermione?" Harry asked. "It's not like you to ignore us like this."
"You two are too busy sucking face on Lavender and Ginny when I am around to notice. So I'll just help Draco here with his homework and let you two seek me out when you've decided that I'm no longer something to step on." She glared.
"Well...we have something to give you at breakfast tomorrow." Ron put in, quickly. He didn't want Harry causing any trouble with Malfoy sitting on the green couch in the Library.
"Alright, bye you guys." She smiled and closed the portrait, walking back over to sit beside Draco, who was studying her. "What?"
"How do you stand those two losers?" He asked, his eyes boring into hers. "I know I wouldn't be able to."
She smiled. "Maybe...but they tend to grow on you. You'd be surprised how many times they've actually learned something when they're around me. I just can't make myself shrug them off. Now, what part did you need help on?"
He was gazing at her in...open admiration? Surely not. "Huh? Oh, yeah...he said we needed pickled Mandrake root...but I don't see that on our list of supplies. Which means that I didn't get any in the apothecary...is there anything I can use in substitution?"
She frowned. "I don't remember Mandrake Root being an ingredient...here, let me see." She leaned down over his shoulder, looking at his notes. He felt his breath catch, just slightly, as her signature scent of Strawberries hit him. "Oh!" He felt her giggle. "Here..." She was pointing at a part of his notes. How the hell did she expect him to concentrate when there was a seductress as...PERFECT...As her leaning over his shoulder?
How the hell did she expect the inevitable not to happen? On impulse, he turned his head, kissing her neck. Gods, she tasted just as good as she smelled...
Hermione let him feast for mere moments before pulling away. "Malfoy, what the fuck!...either you're drunk or you're high...but look." She pointed back to the notes. "It says Pickled Manama Root. Not Pickled Mandrake Root." She smiled and stood up, moving over to her own couch to work some more.
"So...is it true?" She asked him, quietly.
"Is what true?" He looked up at her.
"Does your dad...well...does he..." She hesitated.
"Does he beat me?" Draco was silent for a long time before he mustered the courage to answer her. "Yes...he does."
"Oh..." She looked down. "I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it. He's an ass. Nothing else to it." Draco forced a smile before continuing his work. Sighing deeply...he began to write.
Hermione watched him for a while. "Dray." She was surprised at her use of a nickname on him. He looked up, equally surprised.
"Yeah, Mya?" He nearly choked when he realized that he'd used a nickname.
She smiled, it was a faint smile...and it disappeared before it was in full bloom, but it was a smile...a true smile. "I've been there...you're not alone." She looked back down at her books.
Imaginary Line
That night, Hermione walked into the Common Room to see if Harry and Ron were going to eat dinner with everyone else. "Hermione!" She looked up as she heard the former calling her. "Over here!"
"Yeah Hermione! We have our bets all written out. Here, you keep it..." Ron added.
"What the fuck?! You guys got everyone in our year and Ginny's year to bet?! You're SICK!" She glared at them both as they nodded, not understanding what was so wrong.
"Seamus, Neville even?! YOU'RE SICK!" She slammed back into the library and stormed to the CD player in the corner. "Fuck Rock...I need some country."
Soon a beautiful mixture of Country/Bluegrass came on, and Hermione sunk slowly into not her...but Draco's couch. It smelled like him...she'd nearly been driven crazy earlier that day. Holy FUCK she'd nearly been driven crazy. The smell of him had made her stumble over her words until she'd had to move back to her own couch...but now she needed familiarity...she needed the sweet male scent that only he had.
Imaginary Line
Draco walked into the Library through the Twins' portal to hear a HORRENDOUS music was playing out of the CD player in the corner.
"OH MY GOD!" He shouted. "GRANGER! TURN THAT OFF!!!!"
The woman in question gave him an annoyed look. Did she turn off the CD player? Hell no. "Go upstairs if you don't like my music, Ratface."
He glared. "Take that back, Mudblood."
"Make me, Hippogriff's ass.."
"I will, Slugbreath."
Thus began their normal routine. Their arguments were all in good fun, and even though they normally wound up hurting each other's feelings, they were becoming fast friends. "Bring it, Snake wannabe."
"Let's go, Mouse."
"Come on, DeathEater."
He laughed right out. "The day I go anywhere or do anything with Park-In- Slut again is the day that you can honestly and officially call me a DeathEater, Mya." He smiled at her.
"The day that you become a Death Eater is the day that Harry gets a sex change." Hermione smiled back. "And if that happens, I'm so going to kill myself."
"I'll never let that happen." He looked down at her, leaning forward. Right before he kissed her, Hermione turned away and turned off the music.
Draco picked up her notes in a weak attempt to relieve the tension between them. "What's this you're working on?" He ruffled the papers. Something dropped to the floor and he picked it up. His smile slowly turned into a frown as he read it. "Oh my God..." He looked up at her, hurt and betrayal filling his eyes, and Hermione knew that he'd found the piece of paper that she hadn't discarded right away. Without looking back, Draco stormed towards the stairs.
"Draco!" Hermione pleaded. "It's not what you think!"
He whirled, glaring at her from the foot of the stairs. "No? What is it, then? It looked to me like the five of you had bets placed on when I was getting my dark mark!" When she didn't answer, he nodded. "That's what I thought. Do me a favor, Granger. Don't talk to me anymore." He stormed up the steps to the elegant Head Boy's room. Throwing open the door, he turned back.
"And I am NOT going to be a DeathEater!" He screamed, slamming the door behind him.
Down in the Library, Hermione slowly let her tears come as she whispered, "I'm glad." She picked up her books and set them on the coffee table, and then she gathered up his things as well, setting them on the table beside hers. With one last, longing glance up the stairs, the young woman left the room to get dinner from the kitchens.
Imaginary Line
The next morning, Hermione met Harry and Ron at the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room. They were eagerly awaiting her answer...the answer that would tell them who had won their "innocent" wager. She gave into the irresistible urge to slap them both, and then she went off on them.
"You stupid idiots! Your fucking 'innocent' bet cost me what was beginning to turn into a promising friendship! For your information, he's NEVER getting his dark mark! Not as long as I consider him my friend! I'm ashamed of the both of you and I hope losing me for a friend was worth it!" She whirled with the intent of leaving them both to lick their wounds, but she stopped when she saw Draco walking to breakfast with Pansy on his arm. He was staring as if he'd heard, but Pansy, ever oblivious, sneered at the sight of Hermione.
"Lookie here, Mudblood. Drakie's mine again and there's nothing you and your half-assed excuses for friends can do about it!" She noticed the tears dawning in the Head Girl's eyes and, mistaking them, continued. "Too bad. You know, my wonderful Drakie was only screwing you because I was mad at him."
Even though Hermione knew that it wasn't true, even though she knew that Draco would never do that, and even though that wasn't the reason that she was crying, Hermione let this statement drive her into a desperate, sorrow- ridden run. She heard shouts of "Herms!" and "Mya!" behind her, but ignoring the three men calling after her, she ran on blindly.
Somehow arriving at the picture of the blonde five-year-old twins, she gasped out "Dragon Tears" and stumbled in, racing upstairs and throwing open her nightstand drawer. Inside was the shining silver pocket knife that her father had given her when she'd come to Hogwarts...since the one he'd given her in first grade had been taken away by the teachers.
"Only for emergencies!" He'd said, sternly. This was an emergency if there ever was one...even though she hadn't cut herself since the end of their Sixth Year, right before she'd promised Harry, Ron, and her father that she wouldn't ever again, she was desperate this time.
Taking a deep breath, and tying her blonde hair up so that it wouldn't get dirty until she passed out, Hermione slit both of her wrists in two, obviously practiced movements. She then settled into the bathtub and stared at the door. One phrase kept running through her head.
"The day I go anywhere or do anything with Park-In-Slut again is the day that you can honestly and officially call me a DeathEater, Mya." Draco had said, smiling at her.
It was stupid. She just couldn't help it. She was tired...so tired. In less than twenty-four hours, she'd lost all of the friends that she'd ever had. Two to a bet, and one to Voldemort.
A spurt of blood
A shower of red
Will I die this time?
Will I finally be dead?
Imaginary Line
Draco pushed Pansy off for the fifth time that day when he saw Hermione run. "Mya!" He'd shouted, without stopping to consider the consequences. "Mya! Come back!"
He moved to go after her, but Potter and Weasley grabbed him. "You'd better spill, Malfoy." Potter threatened. "What the fuck's up."
Too worried about Hermione to object, Draco looked at the boys holding onto him. "I told her that the day I let Pansy hang on me was the day I became a DeathEater. She said, and I quote, "The day that you become a DeathEater is the day that Harry gets a sex change. And if that happens, I'm so going to kill myself." So I replied that I'd never let that happen." He noticed that Potter and Weasley were both pale. "What?" He asked, suddenly afraid.
It's flowing faster
This bright red blood
Like someone opening
The gates of a flood
Ron gulped. "Sh-she was depressed for years...always cutting herself. She promised us, last year, that she wouldn't anymore..."
"She's kept her promise, so far, but we've always been so very careful not to upset her..." Harry added. "Or so we thought."
"Gods..." Draco whispered, finally appreciating the horrible truth to Hermione's late night stories. "No...Mya!" He ran as fast as his legs would take him. "MYA!" He screamed, begging the girl that couldn't hear him. She couldn't die...he couldn't lose the best...the ONLY friend he'd ever had.
I don't mean to cause pain
I don't want to hurt you
But I'm just not strong enough
This is it, I'm through.
"Dragon Tears!" Draco shouted towards the portrait ahead of him, not even slowing to close it as he pelted up the stairs and into the bathroom. "Mya!" He pleaded again, shaking the weak girl lying in the bathtub.
Everything's turning dark
I can feel myself leaving
I can see your horror
That you wish you were dreaming
Hermione fought through the blur. "Dray..." She murmured. "I'm sorry...about the bet. I didn't...I didn't want them to do it. I should have threw the parchment away." Her voice was fading.
"I'm not mad, Mya...it just shocked me. Now, you have to hold on, please. You have to stay awake."
It's all right now my love
I'm in peace at last
I'll miss you my dear
But my pain is past.
Hermione reached to comfort him, trying desperately to pull herself back...but she fell, her life leaving her as she slumped against him.
I reach to comfort you
I've changed my mind
But it's too late for that
I've left all that I cared for behind
"No!" Draco begged her, his voice breaking and his tears coming. "No, Mya! NO!" He carefully and tenderly loosed her strawberry-scented, bloodstained hair and turned his face into it. Resting there, he let his sobs take over. Harry and Ron, having followed the Slytherin to the room, watched quietly as the Head Boy let sorrow consume him. As the sobs subsided, the man asked. "How many hours has it been since she ran off?"
"Four..." Harry said, and then, not understanding. "How is that important?"
Draco, however, was already inside of his room, digging desperately through his trunk. Finding what he was searching for, he put a long, golden chain around his neck. "Four hours...Four Turns." He said, looking at Harry. "Coming Potter?" He looked down at the Time-Turner and back up again. "Weasley?"
Harry and Ron nodded, moving forward. "Not a word about this. I'll still come back in time. I'll leave a note to the three of us when we walk in on a very naked Hermione...and I shove the two of you into my room. You'll both have to sign it too...so that you'll know that it's not a prank." The other two nodded in agreement, and with a few turns, they disappeared.
When they reappeared...that is, when the world stopped spinning, they were still in Draco's room. The Head Boy scribbled a note, explaining how things had turned out before they'd come back in time and what he wanted the three on their way to do, before opening the Head's portal to right outside of the Gryffindor Corridor. He pulled the other two behind a suit of armor and listened carefully with them.
"You stupid idiots! Your fucking 'innocent' bet cost me what was beginning to turn into a promising friendship!" Draco turned and whispered to the other two.
"When we hear me scream, we'll take another shortcut back to the Head Rooms...I don't have the password to that one...listen...there's Park-In- Slut gloating..."
Sure enough, Pansy's voice was talking. "Too bad. You know, my wonderful Drakie was only screwing you because I was mad at him." Draco's hand closed into a tight fist, and he very nearly called out. Harry moved to quiet him, but he needn't have bothered...
"Mya!" Draco heard himself shout, and he, Harry, and Ron ran back down the hall to Sir Cadogan's portrait.
"Chivalry!" Draco said, and the painting swung open immediately. The three men walked into the Library in time to see Hermione disappear up the stairs. "I'll handle this." He said, quietly. "If she sees you, she'll be suspicious." After a few moments of hesitation, the other two men nodded, and Draco ran up the stairs.
Hermione sunk slowly into the bath, lifting the knife over her left wrist. Without warning, a warm, strong hand clamped over hers. She looked up to protest when a second hand took the knife from her, but the blurry figure had already released her and disappeared through the door. Draco pushed Harry and Ron into Hermione's room and shushed them, pressing his ear to the bathroom door to listen.
"Mya!" Hermione looked up as Draco ran into the room. He jumped into the tub, heedless of the water, and gathered her close. "My Mya..." he whispered. She yelped and pushed him out.
"Draco! I'm naked and...HARRY AND RON?! OUT! ALL OF YOU!" Draco pushed the other two into his room as Hermione began throwing things.
In Hermione's room, Draco grinned. "She's safe now..." He opened a portrait to the Gryffindor Common Room, quietly. Motioning them through, he smiled at them both and nodded when the ordered him to let them know the moment Hermione was upset again...if she got upset again. Draco had every intension of treating the woman like she was the sun, moon, AND stars. He walked in and collapsed on his Green-covered bed when he heard Hermione get out of the tub. Staring at the canopy of enchanted leaves, he listened to the sounds of the forest and closed his eyes, letting sleep claim him.
"Mya..." He whispered in his dream.
Hermione opened the door to Draco's room and looked in at him. She watched him sleep for a few minutes, enjoying the sight, before she walked back down to the Library. Turning on the "forbidden" Country/Bluegrass music, she began reading peacefully.
Imaginary Line
In a few hours, Draco opened his eyes and sat up. He heard music from the library. He smiled...it was Bluegrass music...further testament that Hermione was safe and sound. He walked downstairs, expecting to see the blonde Gryffindor.
"Mya?" He called, gently. Suddenly, he stopped short. The Library walls were covered in blood... "MYA!!!"
Draco sat up with a jolt...realizing that the sun no longer shone through the enchanted trees on his ceiling...showing that it was night. He looked down at his clothes, which were drenched in a cold sweat and clung to his body, chilling him to the bone. The door opened, and he saw Hermione turn off the light to the bathroom as she walked in.
"Dray?" She asked softly. "Are you okay?" She slid onto the bed and he looked down at her.
"Mya..." He whispered... "Yeah...I'm okay. It was just a nightmare."
She smiled. "Okay." She moved to go. With a panicky jolt, Draco grabbed her hand.
"Mya! Stay...please..." He whispered, swallowing his pride. "I can't sleep without someone next to me or a sleeping potion...I have nightmares..."
She looked at him and he could see her hesitate. He was about to change his mind when she shook her head. "I won't stay here...but if you'd like, you may come to my room." She said, gently. He frowned.
"Your room...?"
She nodded. "I can't breathe at night without a vaporizer...I set up a vaporizer in my room..."
He nodded slowly. "Okay..." The two of them stood and walked to her room for the first full night's sleep either would have in months.
A/N: The revisions are FINALLY finished on this chapter...I'll reread the other chapters, but they should make more sense now...and soon the Fic will CONTINUE! YAY! SO HAPPY!!!!!