New Guy in the Club

AN: Chapter 13 is now here. I am soooo sorry it took so long! My computer wouldnt let me update for like weeks! Thanks to those who did review, I'll mention you all at the end. I finally got done with Swan Lake, a ballet I was in that took up a lot of time so hopefully, if I don't have too much going on with school, I should be able to start getting more done:) anyways, I'll make you wait no longer.

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Chapter 13

There was a loud crash from inside the room, sounding as if a lot of metal hit the floor. A lot of metal…like… Draco ran back to the door realizing that it was the sound of the cutlery hitting the floor in a fury. He began pounding again in a mad frantic.

There was still no reply. He ran his fingers through his hair as he tried to think of something he could do. Thoughts of what could happen flashed through his brain as this brought back memories of his own.

Flashback

An eleven-year-old Draco watched through half-closed eyes as Lucius briskly walked out of the room, leaving his son sprawled on the floor. After he was sure that his father was well off to another part of their manor, the boy tried to get up. Quickly he slumped back down, though, as there was a large bruise spreading across his stomach from where his father had repeatedly kicked him.

Draco had been putting up with this treatment for three years now. Nothing he ever did was good enough for Lucius, no matter how hard he tried. His mother had little idea of what happened to her son, for she was always at luncheons or dinner parties. She was scarcely home and was kept away by Lucius from many things that were done at her home.

Finally getting enough strength to conquer the pain, Draco pushed himself into a sitting position. He was in the mind frame that if he couldn't even please his father, then he was probably not good enough for the rest of the world.

Clutching his stomach, he slowly managed to stagger into a doubled over standing position. He moved his arm slightly and thought he felt a broken rib. Thoughts rushed through his head of how he got to this, but some followed that he must have deserved it. He hobbled out of the room, stopping every few seconds to breathe.

The servants in the house knew that they could do nothing to help Draco if they ever saw him in such a state. Being fired would be considered highly fortunate if they ever were to. Lucius told him that in order for his boy to be strong, he had to bear it out and learn to help himself.

Draco looked where he had wandered to and realized that he was right outside the kitchen, a place he had seldom ventured. He peered in and noticed that everyone had left it, as it was nearing midnight. They are all probably sleeping, dreaming of little bunnies frolicking through forests of…food A thought then entered the boy's mind. Lucius always wants me to help myself. How about I help myself now and stop the pain completely. It's not like anyone will care. It will be an improvement. Something I actually did right.

Moving forward, he started to open drawers to find what he needed. As he began to open a certain one, something bumped his broken rib and he shot backwards, bringing the drawer with him. It was the one he wanted, though it was now empty after the contents were spilled around him when he fell backwards. He looked at the knives around him and looked for the sharpest.

Inside Hotel Room

Hermione looked at the knives around her, not sure of what she was doing. She heard Draco outside the door, his voice muffled as he yelled her name. The tears in her eyes blurred her vision, making her feel even more unsettled.

"Please Hermione, I can help! Just let me in! Please!" Draco begged from outside. Hermione would reply. She let out a sob and turned back to the mess around her. She began hunting for a sharp one that would make it more painless. She knew she couldn't please anyone. That was one thing she wouldn't kid herself about anymore. It's not like I even have any real friends she thought. Everyone envies me, wants to be me, but no one really with me. The one person I thought I had as a friend turned her back on me today. She even knew.

Draco's Flashback

A servant entered the kitchen after being awoken from a large clutter of metal on the stone floor. He looked down and saw Draco in the middle of a large amount of knives.

"Stop Draco. I can help," he told the boy slowly and quietly. "Just stand up and move over here."

"I can't," replied Draco.

"Yes you can, just walk over here. You can do it."

"How thick are you? I can't because I can hardly move! I can't take this anymore."

"What do you love most?" asked the servant after a pause. The boy just looked at him strangely. "Just answer."

After thinking for a second Draco answered, almost inaudible. "My mother."

"What would she say if she found you, or if anyone found you? Once she saw…you can't keep a death from her. Especially not her son. Do you know how hard she always tries to see you? Lucius makes excuses. That's why she's never around. Now, let me clean up this mess before you hurt yourself." Draco remained motionless. The servant cautiously moved toward the boy and reached for a knife to begin putting them away. The boy stayed in the same place.

After a few minutes the servant walked around to grab the last knife. As soon as he touched it, Draco reached out and grabbed it.

Hotel

Draco searched his brain for something he could do to stop the girl from doing what he had once attempted. He looked down and saw a string slightly protruding under the door. It was the string attached to his key that he dropped when he first entered the room.
Quickly, he turned around to look out over the railing that served as a barrier to where the floor stopped and the lower floor's lobby was. The railing stopped between his room and Ginny's. Too bad we weren't in separate rooms. I wouldn't have the problem of anyone thinking I might be breaking into this room. The few people down there didn't pay any attention to him, so he went on the floor to try to get the string.

Ginny walked out of her room. "What are you doing?" she asked casually.

"Give me something thin," he replied.

"What?" she asked.

"Just do it." He was irritated with her. She rummaged through her things and pulled out a bobby pin.

"Will this work?"

"We'll find out. Give it here." She did as he told him and watched him put it in the loop of the string. It pulled out enough for him to pull by hand.

Time was beginning to run short. He heard Hermione in there beginning to rummage through the knives. He gave a hard tug and the key shot through the slot at the base of the door. Quickly he reached up to open the door. It gave a click as it allowed him passage.

Draco's Flashback

"No. It's better this way." The servant tried to pull it out of the boy's hand, but his grasp was firm. He looked down and noticed Draco's hold was by the blade and there was only one way to get the knife from him. He pulled back, trying to keep the pressure on the blunt end. The knife came out leaving some blood seeping out of Draco's hand. The boy winced in pain.

The servant quickly put the knives away and pulled out a rag to wrap Draco's hand in.

"You're going to be alright." Draco nodded, knowing that he couldn't kill himself. He couldn't bear it. The servant helped him stand and helped him back to his room. His hand had stopped bleeding. Looking up at the clock, he saw it strike midnight and he knew he survived.

End of Flashback

Hermione looked up and saw Draco's face full of concerned and realized that she had one person. He ran over to her and bent down, hugging her close to him. She buried her head in his shoulder and sobbed harder than ever.

"I was so scared, Draco," she sobbed. "I was going to do it. What would have happened?"

"We're not going to think about that. You didn't, so we should never worry about that again." Tears were beginning to form in his eyes as well. "I thought I was going to lose you," he whispered. "I just found you, though."

They just sat there holding each other for the next hour, until Hermione finally fell asleep. Draco carefully stood up with her and carried her over to the bed. After laying her down, he began picking up the place; he didn't want any accidents to happen. After placing a few of the knives back in the drawer, he heard someone enter the room. He spun around to find Dean standing in the doorway, staring at what was in front of him.

"Looks like you and Hermione got a little rough while I was gone. It looks like a tornado hit this place."

"Might as well have," replied Draco quietly. "And keep your voice down, she's sleeping." He paused for a few seconds. "We got into a fight and there was a little incident while you were gone. Nothing that you need to worry about now."

"Right, well, I'm gonna go freshen up now. There's some hot chicks down there if ya wanna check em out." He winked at Draco.

"I have a girlfriend and actually intend on keeping it that way," replied the latter coldly.

"Suit yourself." Dean turned and headed back into his own room. Draco finished cleaning up the cutlery that lay around on the floor. He then decided to have a word with Ginny, the reason for all of this.

Ginny looked up from where she was sitting to find Draco fuming in the doorway.

"Sup?" she asked casually as if nothing had happened.

"This is all your fault."

"You're the one that provoked me. Besides, what did you really do to stop it?"

"I stopped it as soon as you did something! And how did I provoke it. I provoked nothing. I'm with Hermione, I wouldn't do that to her."

Ginny made a slight snicker at that. "I know your type and I know you liked it."

"It's your fault she almost just killed herself and you don't even care!" he yelled. She stared at him, as if she may not have known what her "friend" just attempted. "Yeah, that's right."

"It's not like anyone would have missed her. And people would actually notice me for me for once. Not just Hermione Granger's friend."

"That's all she's ever been to you? A way for popularity? How shallow can one be?"

"You obviously never did get to know Hermione very well, did you?" Ginny smirked.

"Well people would notice you, that's for sure. It wouldn't be for the reason that you wanted, though. You'd still be behind Hermione. You would be the one responsible for her death, and that is how people would know you as."

He left the room quickly, not able to stand much more of the redhead. He reentered his room to find Hermione sitting on the bed, wide awake.

"I heard what happened," she said. "Well, at least I really know what she thinks of me now."

"I'm sorry," Draco said.

"Don't be, it's not your fault. You didn't do anything." They sat in quiet for a few minutes. Draco shifted.

"You never did tell me really what happened to you," he finally said. Hermione looked at the floor. "Hermione?" Still no response. "You can trust me."

She breathed deeply. Finally she looked back at him. "I was walking home one night and took the long way home. It was nice out and I just wanted to think for a while." She paused. "I ran into someone. I didn't know him. He was obviously older than me…like a lot, some man. I tried to get him to go away, throw him off, show him I obviously wasn't interested in him or anything. He grabbed me." She trailed off.

"Hermione? It's alright, it's all over now. You can tell me."

"He shoved me against a wall." Tears began flowing from her hazel eyes again. She looked straight at him. "He started kissing me and tried to…" She breathed deeply a few times. Then she said barely above a whisper, "He tried to rape me. There was a second he moved his hands and the grip was a little looser. I pulled away and landed really hard on my shoulder in some gravel, got pretty beat up. Well, I ran as fast as I could. I don't remember anything about him. Just the most horrible icy cold gray eyes ever."

"When was this?" Draco asked, knowing what he thought couldn't be true.

"That night after Hogwarts…Thursday, which is why I came all beat up Friday…why?"

"Just wondering," he said, sounding distant. Draco remembered Thursday night, and his father coming home so angry. There was a girl that night. It couldn't be the same thing. he thought to himself. "Let's go down and get something to eat so we can get our mind off all of this. We can get all dressed up and have a good time."

"Great," said Hermione with a smile on her face. She was glad that she had Draco for her boyfriend. She couldn't imagine any other.

Hermione walked out of the bathroom dressed in a full length glittering forest green halter dress. Her hair was piled on top of her head in curls leaving a few soft ones hanging down. She had a simple layer of clear shining lip gloss on and gold shimmer on her eyes. In Draco's opinion, there was no way she could be any more perfect. He stared in awe with his mouth hanging open.

Draco was dressed in a satin black button-up shirt and black pants. His hair was gelled, but not in any particular way. It just had gel in it and laid, a few strands in his face. Hermione had to admit he did not look bad at all himself. She gracefully crossed the distance between them and closed his mouth and kissed his soft lips quickly.

"If you're done staring, we really need to be going. Where are you taking me, anyways?"

"That, my dear, is a surprise," he said once regaining use of his vocal chords. He held out his arm for the stunning beauty beside him. She took it and they strolled out as if they ruled the place. Heads turned as they exited the building. Draco had called a limousine and handed the chauffer a piece of paper with the address on it, as he wanted to keep it a surprise for Hermione. The man reached through the tinted glass separating the seats and took it, or at least Draco assumed it was a man by the look of the arm. He couldn't actually see the face, but that didn't matter.

He turned back toward Hermione was the glass was closed again. "Finally, some privacy," he breathed. He leaned down and their lips connected. They began to kiss slowly with much tender love included. The pace began to pick up as Draco slid his tongue inside her mouth, exploring the well-known territory. Hermione moaned into his mouth. He started to snake his hand up the back of her shirt, when the cab suddenly stopped. They pulled apart from each other, completely out of breath. Draco glanced at his watch and realized that fifteen minutes had already passed.

"It shouldn't have taken this long to get there," he said confused.

"What?" asked Hermione, who was beginning to go through her purse to find her lip gloss.

"The place I planned on taking you. Even in bad traffic, it shouldn't have taken this long." He shrugged and pulled on the door handle. It was locked. He knocked on the tinted glass to tell the chauffer to open the doors. The window opened a bit.

"Yes?" came a voice.

"Excuse me, but could you let us out now."

"Of course. Let me, these doors have trouble sometimes opening from the inside."

"Thank you." They heard the sound of a door in front of them opening and closing, then footsteps. The chauffer walked around to the side Hermione was on, the side nearest the curb of the building. Suddenly the door whipped open and Hermione felt a hand around her mouth. She tried to squirm around. Another hand reached out to grab Draco. The man had both of them somehow in a position where they couldn't move. He carried them inside the building, which Draco found to be not the one he had made reservations at. Hermione only got one glimpse of their captor, and that was of his cold gray eyes.

So, like it? Hate it? Too much? PLEASE tell me so I know. Otherwise I'll just go on in not knowing. Anyways, that wasn't as long as I was hoping, but an ok length. Thanks to those who reviewed: Katy (times however many…that really made my day smiles), Beth, April Showers2, Riley26, Mystery of the Night (in case you didn't catch it, it's a total AU (alternate universe) meaning no magic or anything…any questions just email me and I'll answer if my email will decide to work), In Dreams, alka, Bekah, alexe, Tamurl07, Meg, Dracoslover333, notsolaZNOmor, Sunflower18, Samantha-Carlyn (it is supposed to spell my name (Jordan) except for the part I messed up on the last letter and put a 13 instead of a 14…it was my AIM sn and I had it for months before I realized that) and I think I got everyone. If I missed you, I'm sorry and let me know!

Also, I usually try to e-mail everyone that reviewed (that gives an accessible email) telling them that I updated, but my e-mail has been really gay lately, so if you haven't received one yet, I apologize. Anyways, don't forget to review, it's not too hard. I see the ending coming somewhere nearish. Don't worry, theres still some chapters, I just don't know how many. Anyways, thanks for staying with the fic. Once this is done, I have ideas for a second I plan on starting. REVIEW! (it doesn't effect whether I'll keep updating or not but it really helps speed things up and really makes my day when I get them) even flames.