Disclaimer: I own the plot.
A/N: Chapter ten...I believe. Hope you enjoy it. I can't tell you guys how appreciative I am of you. I just wanted to tell "The-Anonymouso.O" that...erm...I'm sorry? What do you want me to do? I can't help it if you don't think your "Ronnykinns" is capable of acting the way he is. Oi vei. Why are you even telling me this? It's my story and my plot, not yours. So, please, don't yell at me. Just write your own story and make Ron play Santa Claus if you want. Santa Claus is nice, right? cough cough Oh, and about the "Peaches and Cream" thing, redtears85 took the words right out of my mouth. Thanks for saying it so my lazy ass wouldn't have to. Much love. Obviously Tonkseh doesn't know her stuff... laughs evilly Boy do I feel sinister...
"You know, Granger, you can't keep living like this," a voice whispered from somewhere behind the sobbing girl.
Hermione hiccupped and quickly turned her head in surprise. Standing above her, towering over her was the one and only: Draco Malfoy. His platinum blonde hair was lighter than ever, and his silver-blue eyes were icy.
In any other situation, Hermione would have ran away right then. But this time was different. There was something different about Malfoy. There was a funny look in his freezing eyes. The look was very serious yet
"What – what do you want, Malfoy?" She sounded helpless and completely unthreatening. Hermione thought he would smirk and make a snide comment. But he didn't. He just held his ground.
"Something has to be wrong with you Granger. The whole damn school knows how Weasley treats you," Malfoy said in an uncharacteristically soft voice. He sounded slightly angry, but the boy was very composed.
"Ron treats me fine," Hermione said rather quickly. She felt the heat rising in her cheeks. Could he tell she was lying? She was a very good liar.
Malfoy narrowed his eyes. Hermione could tell that he was searching her face. His forehead relaxed. He had believed her.
"Then why are you crying?" he asked, searching for information.
"I fell," she said simply.
"Well, where's the knight in shining armor? Shouldn't he be here to whisk you away on his noble steed? Or at least help you up?" Malfoy asked Hermione. Hermione noticed that his eyes and voice were back to normal: as cold as ever. He looked extremely distant.
"Ron was with me," Hermione countered angrily. She was trying to give Malfoy the shortest answers possible. She wanted him to leave.
In the back of her mind, a small voice said, 'What if Ron comes back? He wouldn't be too happy to see you with Draco Malfoy...'
But Hermione told herself that Ron wouldn't come back. He never did. Ron would just make Hermione collapse from the immense weight of the emotional, mental, and physical abuse that he was feeding her. Then he would split, as swiftly as possible, leaving Hermione to cry until all her tears were gone.
The bell rang and Hermione promptly rose to her feet. Without a backward glance, she stumbled forward. She could hear a thousand or so students pouring through the Great Hall doors, but she was already dashing around the corner.
Once she was far enough away from her classmates, her body instantly felt weak. She could barely breathe. Hermione immediately thought of the short conversation that she had just had with Malfoy. It was the closest thing she had ever had to a normal conversation with the Slytherin.
The funny thing was, Hermione wished she could see him again to tell him that she was battered. She could just yell it at him, scream out all the pain she had been through. He would understand, and he would get her help. Hermione would never have to deal with it again.
But Hermione knew how dangerous it was talking to Malfoy. He was Ron's enemy, and they hated each other with a burning passion that Hermione didn't even know was possible. Ron would kill her if he found out that she was associating herself with Draco Malfoy. He would kill her.
Hermione looked behind her at the empty corridor. She could hear students bustling about somewhere close by. She wished Malfoy would have followed her and demanded an explanation. She wished that he would force her to tell. She needed to tell him... She needed to tell someone... He would have been the perfect one...
In that second moment of running, Malfoy's presence teased her with its closeness. It danced and sparkled on a wavelet at her moving feet. But then, as she ran faster and into the darkness, the vast ocean pulled back the tide into its dark, infinite belly, and now Hermione was faced with the terror of never finding it again. If she could only find it, she felt sure it would give her strength and maybe even hope.
But she was left with nothing more than the taste of feeling free and an urgent, painful longing in her heart.
A/N: Chapter ten...I believe. Hope you enjoy it. I can't tell you guys how appreciative I am of you. I just wanted to tell "The-Anonymouso.O" that...erm...I'm sorry? What do you want me to do? I can't help it if you don't think your "Ronnykinns" is capable of acting the way he is. Oi vei. Why are you even telling me this? It's my story and my plot, not yours. So, please, don't yell at me. Just write your own story and make Ron play Santa Claus if you want. Santa Claus is nice, right? cough cough Oh, and about the "Peaches and Cream" thing, redtears85 took the words right out of my mouth. Thanks for saying it so my lazy ass wouldn't have to. Much love. Obviously Tonkseh doesn't know her stuff... laughs evilly Boy do I feel sinister...
"You know, Granger, you can't keep living like this," a voice whispered from somewhere behind the sobbing girl.
Hermione hiccupped and quickly turned her head in surprise. Standing above her, towering over her was the one and only: Draco Malfoy. His platinum blonde hair was lighter than ever, and his silver-blue eyes were icy.
In any other situation, Hermione would have ran away right then. But this time was different. There was something different about Malfoy. There was a funny look in his freezing eyes. The look was very serious yet
"What – what do you want, Malfoy?" She sounded helpless and completely unthreatening. Hermione thought he would smirk and make a snide comment. But he didn't. He just held his ground.
"Something has to be wrong with you Granger. The whole damn school knows how Weasley treats you," Malfoy said in an uncharacteristically soft voice. He sounded slightly angry, but the boy was very composed.
"Ron treats me fine," Hermione said rather quickly. She felt the heat rising in her cheeks. Could he tell she was lying? She was a very good liar.
Malfoy narrowed his eyes. Hermione could tell that he was searching her face. His forehead relaxed. He had believed her.
"Then why are you crying?" he asked, searching for information.
"I fell," she said simply.
"Well, where's the knight in shining armor? Shouldn't he be here to whisk you away on his noble steed? Or at least help you up?" Malfoy asked Hermione. Hermione noticed that his eyes and voice were back to normal: as cold as ever. He looked extremely distant.
"Ron was with me," Hermione countered angrily. She was trying to give Malfoy the shortest answers possible. She wanted him to leave.
In the back of her mind, a small voice said, 'What if Ron comes back? He wouldn't be too happy to see you with Draco Malfoy...'
But Hermione told herself that Ron wouldn't come back. He never did. Ron would just make Hermione collapse from the immense weight of the emotional, mental, and physical abuse that he was feeding her. Then he would split, as swiftly as possible, leaving Hermione to cry until all her tears were gone.
The bell rang and Hermione promptly rose to her feet. Without a backward glance, she stumbled forward. She could hear a thousand or so students pouring through the Great Hall doors, but she was already dashing around the corner.
Once she was far enough away from her classmates, her body instantly felt weak. She could barely breathe. Hermione immediately thought of the short conversation that she had just had with Malfoy. It was the closest thing she had ever had to a normal conversation with the Slytherin.
The funny thing was, Hermione wished she could see him again to tell him that she was battered. She could just yell it at him, scream out all the pain she had been through. He would understand, and he would get her help. Hermione would never have to deal with it again.
But Hermione knew how dangerous it was talking to Malfoy. He was Ron's enemy, and they hated each other with a burning passion that Hermione didn't even know was possible. Ron would kill her if he found out that she was associating herself with Draco Malfoy. He would kill her.
Hermione looked behind her at the empty corridor. She could hear students bustling about somewhere close by. She wished Malfoy would have followed her and demanded an explanation. She wished that he would force her to tell. She needed to tell him... She needed to tell someone... He would have been the perfect one...
In that second moment of running, Malfoy's presence teased her with its closeness. It danced and sparkled on a wavelet at her moving feet. But then, as she ran faster and into the darkness, the vast ocean pulled back the tide into its dark, infinite belly, and now Hermione was faced with the terror of never finding it again. If she could only find it, she felt sure it would give her strength and maybe even hope.
But she was left with nothing more than the taste of feeling free and an urgent, painful longing in her heart.