Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the other characters in this story. Wish I did though.

Chapter Six
'You have me'

She was dead. Oh god, she was dead. He knew it, she was-

'Draco?' Hermione muttered. She unfurled herself and gazed up at him. To his surprise, delight and utter infuriation there wasn't a bruise on her body. Instead of being black and blue, her face was nothing more than pink and splotchy. He'd risked a detention and possible house points for this?

'Hermione!' he cried. He tried to look pleased, but didn't think it worked. She was leaking again. He figured he better act concerned to placate Lake Granger . 'Are you all right? Tell me now,' he ordered.

Hermione groaned, blinking back the tears. It sounded more like a threat than a request, and she couldn't handle any more threats. Not today. She gulped, and glared daggers at him.

'I'm fine, and since when have you cared Malfoy?' she snapped back at him. He noticed she was no longer on first name basis with him, and decided to tone it down a bit. Maybe acting concerned wasn't the right way to comfort an upset girl. He was proud of his knowledge on the opposite sex, but had to admit he wasn't very experienced in the waterworks departments. Sure, he'd made numerous girls cry, but he hadn't tried to sooth them afterwards. He groaned and decided to take another stab at it.

'Well...' he said softly, offering a hand and helping her to her feet. He wondered what he should say to ease the tension. Draco finally settled on, 'I can't have students being murdered on my watch, now can I?' Hermione glowered at him for a few seconds, but finally registered it as a joke and let him help her up. He took this as a good sign.

'So, tell me...are you all right?' he repeated. He chose his words carefully, because students were starting to pass this way out of the Great Hall. He didn't want her making a scene in front of them. He glanced over at Hermione, and to his relief she wasn't crying anymore. Instead, she was searching him. Like she was looking for a reason not to tell plastered across his forehead. This annoyed him a little, but he worked to keep his temper down. He looked down on her sympathetically.

'No,' she replied finally. She decided he sounded sincere enough. Draco cocked an eyebrow at her, scanning her for any black eyes or bruises throttling her neck. She looked fine...unless...His eyes slowly traveled down further with a questioning look.

'He didn't...?'

'No, he didn't,' Hermione retorted curtly. Her cheeks flushed, but after a long pause they began to cool down. As did her tears. She finally plucked up the nerve to tell Draco what Harry-no, what Potter-had done. She just hoped he wouldn't burst out laughing, which he certainly would have done a few years ago. He seemed to have changed, though...he was nicer...sweeter...not to mention dead sexy, but she tried not to think about that. Just look at where it had got her last time, storming through Hogwarts with naught but a towel on...

'Then what did he do, if he didn't beat you to a pulp?' Draco snapped. Hermione jerked up, and realized she'd been laughing at herself as she remembered the Towel Incident. Draco, however, didn't look so amused. Actually, he was about ready to snap. Why wouldn't the girl just bloody tell him?

'Harry doesn't sink to that level, unlike some people I happen to know,' Hermione replied, shooting Draco another amused look. That did it.

'Shut up, mudblood!' he hissed. 'Just shut up.' He didn't feel bad about twisting her arm behind her back the next instant, since he knew she hadn't been beaten up already.

'Draco,' Hermione squealed. She hadn't meant it as an insult, couldn't the prat take a joke? 'Get off me NOW!' She pulled out her wand with her free arm, but Draco was a few steps ahead of her. She felt something cutting into the nape of her neck, and winced as Malfoy dug his wand into her skin.

'I've tried to be nice...I've even let you pose for me'- He ignored Granger's muffled protests. 'I've just saved you from Potter...and you know what? You give me nothing but crap! I'm sick of you! I thought you might turn out to be a halfway decent person...but I guess my father was right. Mudbloods are scum.'

He paused and removed his wand. Hermione sighed and relaxed a little, wishing he would let go of her arm too. It was starting to numb. But then she gasped as she felt the accursed wand jabbed back into her, deeper and deeper with each word Malfoy spat.

'Every... Last.... One.'

He let go of her and watched her sink to the floor with a pleased smirk. But before he could stalk away, Hermione began to yell after him.

'You know what Potter said?' she bellowed, making sure he and everyone else in the castle could hear her. 'You know what he said? He's no longer my friend. Ron's no longer my friend. He told me I have nothing but my books, and he was right.' She paused, allowing herself to sniffle, and noticed Malfoy had stopped dead in his tracks. She got him. She let herself choke out a few sobs, and shrieked 'he was right! He was bloody right!'

Hermione curled up in a ball on the floor, bawling to a first degree. She couldn't hear the clacking of Malfoy's shoes as he ran over to her above her own wailing. She only noticed him when he grabbed her hair to pull her painfully up. This was not what she had intended. Was Malfoy really cold enough to jump a crying girl? She didn't even bother to answer that, because she already knew from years of experience. Yes, he would. She decided to stop crying, though, and take it like she always used to. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her blubber, even though she was scared senseless. Hermione squeezed her eyes shut, and then opened them to face Malfoy and every curse he had to throw. But he hadn't pulled his wand out to hex her. His fists weren't balled. Instead, he was staring down at her strangely. She couldn't tell what it was exactly, not at first. But as he leaned down, closer and closer to her, he murmured something in her ear.

'You have me.'

It was then she realized what that look was. It was how Ron looked at her before they snogged that first time in the Diagon Alley. It was how her very few exes looked at her when she accepted their dating proposals.

It was the look of lust.

(A/N) Mwahaha...ok not much of a cliffie...but thanks for the reviews! You guys rock! Sorry it was so short, but I wanted to get this chapter up fast...so enjoy, it might be a while before I've posted the next chapter. I promise it'll be longer tho! ;)