Chapter 16: The Short-Tempered Match
Hello all! It's the 9th March now, but very close to the 10th March. I'm just writing this bit now so that it has written and I have actually started it. I will perhaps write some more on Friday or during the week or whatever.
Anyway, reviews!
*~*Flutterling: you reckon I should explain more about hermiones dad? That could be done...I'll see what I can do. And no, still no wild sex :P. Be patient you!
*~*tomzgurl77: nothing sounds stupid in my review boards. Thank you for your encouragement! I'll keep writing. And yeah, don't you hate fast fics. 'hi. I love you. I love you too. Let's have wild sex in the bushes. Ok. End.' So STUPID! Anyway, yes.
*~*electra*27: hehe yeah I get confused with stories too. This one is about Hermione getting keduas syndrome and her mother has just died. Savvy?
*~*Little-Sailor-Girl: oh really? I'm sorry about that. In Australia you usually use ' instead of "most of the time, that's all. I'll try to bear your request in mind, but I don't promise anything.
*~*coolcat411: I needed Hermiones father to have a bit of an empathic moment with his daughter after he 'woke up', that's all. And yes, there will be much malfoy/Hermione interaction this chapter, I assure you.
*~*ILUVRONWEASLEY: my comp stuffs up, and I'm busy a lot more now, so I can't do that any more (. Oh well, I shall live.
*~*Mickey Sky: certainly, I shall write more. And thank you. I wanted it to be a sad one.
*~*bombshell: that's great. Here's your next chapter.
OK people, I must warn you, I'm drugged up on a mixture of anxiety, because I'm about to go to a busy shift at my place of employment, and this very strange music I'm listening to. So so strange . . .
Disclaimer: I own a birthday . . . on the 14th . . . power to the people, power to the people, power to the people, power to the people at home. I love that song. And, um . . . hopefully then I will own many many new things. I love birthdays . . . I really do.
OK, let's get to it.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning found Harry and Ron rushing down to the breakfast table, knowing that Hermione would be there fairly soon. Ron was all for offering nothing but empathy for their friend, but Harry's intentions were slightly different.
'We need to discuss with her about how her mother really died.
'Oh geez Harry, couldn't you cut her a bit of slack?' asked Ron. 'She doesn't need us harpooning on her at this time, does she?'
'But—'
'Come on Harry, we don't need to do this to her. We really don't. Not yet. Just give her a chance to feel a bit more normal, all right?'
Harry sighed. He knew he would be really pushing it if he did question Hermione, and he really cared about her. But this was Voldemort they were talking about. He didn't exactly wait around for future victims to get their heads together before killing them. However, he gave in, because Ron evidently felt it was the right thing to do. He definitely didn't have a good feeling about himself as he agreed, however.
'Thank you,' said Ron, dragging a plate of bacon towards him.
As Harry and Ron began to eat, they heard footsteps, and Ginny running up to join both of them.
'Been training hard?' Harry asked her, winking.
'Tremendously,' replied Ginny, grinning. 'There's no need to worry though, Hufflepuff are a pushover. . . OW!' Ginny was just rapped on the head by a Hufflepuff friend of hers who was walking by.
'Don't be so sure of that Ginny. You never should be. Relaxing is not an option.'
'Uh-huh. When's Hermione coming back?'
'In about 10 minutes,' said Ron.
'I feel so sorry for her,' Ginny commented airily. 'Imagine if that happened to us Ron.'
'Wouldn't be nice,' said Ron stiffly.
'What have we got this morning, Ron?' asked Harry.
'Um, I think it's Herbology. Yeah, then it's muggle studies. Remember?'
'Oh yeah. Good-o.' Both of them were fairly faint-hearted. They were both waiting for Hermione, and that was really all either of them were focusing on.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Now remember,' Hermiones father said to her, as Hermione was about to go through the fireplace. 'Don't worry about me.'
'Hermione shook her head up at her father. 'How can you ask me to do that?' she replied to him.
'Well, do your best. I'll see you at the summer holidays. In the meantime, write to me, all right?
'OK,' said Hermione, giving her father one last hug good-bye.
She then dug a handful of flew powder out of the pot that all the fireplaces were equipped with. She took a final deep breath. She'd become slightly nervous.
'Gryffindor Common Room,' she said loudly and clearly, throwing the powder onto the fire.
She was whisked away, and she emerged, slightly sick, a few moments later.
Brushing the soot off her robes, she peered around. It was the common room, all right. She left her bags there and hurried down to the Great Hall, so's to meet Harry and Ron quickly.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Hermione!'
Hermione whipped around from where she was looking, to find Harry and Ron sitting at the table. She rushed over to them and gave them both a bone- breaking embrace, which they gladly returned.
'Oh Hermione, we're so sorry,' Harry murmured to her.
Hermione smiled grimly. 'Be more worried for my father then for me,' she said.
'I still don't actually understand how your father woke up.' Said Ron.
'It's fairly simple,' replied Hermione. 'An insane person can often wake up if something sharp happens to them. The memories come flooding back in to them, or something like that. That's what happened to my dad.'
Harry furrowed his brow. 'Seems a bit strange,' he said.
Hermione shrugged. 'I won't focus on the details of it.'
'Nor will we,' said Ron, nudging Harry.
'Sure,' Harry replied airily. That plagued on his mind somehow. Surely can't happen with all insane people . . .
Herbology wasn't really that eventful. Muggle studies, the next period, was. Hermione decided to go to the quiet room to catch up on some stuff, so she zoomed up there and sat down, only to find Malfoy sitting opposite her.
'Hi,' she said, setting her books down. 'How've you been?'
'Well enough. It's you I'm worried about. How'd it all go?'
Hermione contemplated saying nothing, like she'd basically wanted to do for Harry and Ron. But for some reason, telling Maklfoy seemed more . . . right . . . then telling Harry and Ron. So she ended up telling him about the whole event, and exactly how she felt. Malfoy just sat there and listened, occasionally nodding and/or going 'I see'. By the time she was done, Hermione felt loads better about it all.
'I'd suggest not worrying about your dad so much,' Malfoy said. 'Particularly if he has that Hearthel bird looking after him. Worry a bit more about yourself.' His face turned, if possible, more serious. 'How have the dreams been going?'
Hermione smiled grimly to herself. 'I'm in constant pain. They're not stopping.'
'Where's the pain worst?' asked Malfoy.
Hermione sighed to herself, then removed the gloves she was wearing. Malfoy looked at Hermiones upturned wrists to see rather long red marks running down them.
'You've been cutting yourself in your sleep!?' he asked, bewildered.
Hermione nodded sadly. She rolled down the rocks she was wearing, to reveal similar marks. Malfoy gaped at them. Hermione could see him wanting to look at them more closely.
'Go ahead,' she said.
Malfoy slid off his chair and knelt in front of Hermiones leg. He ran his finger along wear the scars were. It felt cool, and sort of nice, to Hermione.
'These aren't too bad,' Malfoy was saying. 'The ones on your wrist look worse. Can I see?'
Hermione gave her wrists to him, and he looked at them.
'I repaired them as best I could, but the scars stay. Look,' Hermione showed him her cheek, the place where she was first hurt. 'It won't go away.'
'I'd say it will go away when you're healed,' he said, looking at her face. Hermione, for some reason, felt her face turning red. Malfoy noticed this too. 'You're blushing,' he said to her.
Hermione looking down at her knees. 'Yes . . . must be the humiliation of being so weak,' she said.
'Honestly Granger, you don't believe that. That's a really lame excuse for an excuse.'
Malfoy got up again and stood before Hermione. Hermione found this even more intimidating.
'Stop looking at me,' she said.
'Why?' he asked.
'Because . . . I feel uncomfortable.'
'You look good uncomfortable.'
'What? Not the time for flattery Malfoy.'
'Who said I was flattering you?'
'Just stop it!'
'No. Watch this.'
He drew himself to Hermiones eye level and just stared at her. Hermione was now the colour of a tomato, and some of her face had gone rather blotchy.
'You're such a prick.' She said.
'Aren't I though?' he said, grinning. Hermione turned away, and Malfoy stood up again.
'I intimidate you, don't I Granger?'
Hermione had never heard of something so absurd. 'No. Don't be ridiculous.'
'Whatever,' he said, taking out his key. 'The bell's ringing soon Granger. And you've done no catching up. Tut-tut. What are your teachers going to say?' And with that, he vanished.
Hermione sat there, completely lost. She couldn't understand how he could so so sensitive one minute, and a complete sarcastic, arrogant berk the next. It made no sense whatsoever.
What made even less sense was why she was so embarrassed when Malfoy was looking at her. Was she intimidated by him, like he said? It was possible. But why would she be? There was no reason why.
Or was there?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hermione went over to the Great Hall at dinner time, to discover Harry and Ron sitting there in their Quidditch robes, talking amiably. Hermione smiled to herself, and sat down next to Ron.
'Things looking up for the Quidditch match then?' she asked.
'Absolutely,' replied Harry. 'This one's in the bag. The Hufflepuff Seeker is looking a bit peaky, so it's possible he won't be able to play. It's in the bag for Gryffindor. Ron's in excellent form, as are Susie and Ginny.'
'Excellent,' replied Hermione.
'Yeah,' said Ron. 'Now the only thing we have to worry about is the Slytherins.'
'Why are you worrying about them?' asked Hermione. 'They're not playing.'
'No,' said Harry. 'But they're very keen to see Gryffindor lose, at all costs.'
'Aren't they always?'
'Yes, but they've had a lot more avengence since that Nikolas Lestrange came into the picture. Now that Malfoy isn't trying to make us Gryffindors miserable any more, Lestrange is now doing his worst. And he's a great deal more daring than Malfoy. He's willing to cheat. Charm bludgers and the like. We have to be careful.
'Why isn't Malfoy trying to throttle you.'
Ron looked at her then. 'Well surely you've noticed Hermione. He's obviously leeched off you or something like that. He doesn't want to do anything horrible any more. He actually wants to talk to non-Slytherin people. It's so great it's almost sickening.'
Hermione smiled to herself. That was good news.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hermione woke up on Saturday morning with strong feelings of nervousness. This was odd, because she wasn't playing. It was also somewhat logical, because after having been Harry and Ron's best friend for the past 6 years, she had a strong friendship bond with them, and was possibly feeling the nervousness for them.
She went downstairs quickly, after changing into Gryffindor-supporting attire. She passed the Slytherin table to many hisses and sneers. That was odd. They didn't think she was a player or anything, did they? She sat down at the Gryffindor table, took out her wand, and quickly mended last nights cuts. These ones were on her stomach, and, for the first time, she didn't seem to be able to fix them. She just stayed there, not doing anything. She was considering going to see Madam Pomfrey when Harry and Ron entered, both having remaining pieces of toast thrown at them by the Slytherin table. At which point Portus, from the Hufflepuff table, went 'Will you guys knock it off! WE'RE the team they're playing against, not you! Act with a bit of decorum!' and sat back down again. Harry and Ron rushed over to the table.
'They sneered at me,' said Hermione, as they sat down.
'Honestly,' replied Harry, more to himself then to Hermione. 'Nikolas must have really worked on them. They weren't half that bad on the match day where we played THEM.'
'Ahh don't worry about it,' said Ron, placing a hand on Harrys shoulder. 'We'll show them when we beat Hufflepuff. I've asked Madam Hooch specifically to guard the balls with her life, which she was only too happy to do, considering the time where Nikolas accidently ran into her with a broomstick when she said Gryffindor were likely winners of the cup.'
'Now that's childish,' said Hermione.
'Don't I know,' replied Ron, eating a piece of toast. Hermione noticed he was eating for the first time before a Quidditch match. He definitely wasn't doing it with his usual gusto however.
Harry and Ron were about to leave when Nikolas walked past the table with Crabbe and Goyle, and the two thugs pushed Harry and Ron's heads into their empty cereal bowls, and walked away again. Ron levelled up immediately and took out his wand.
'Expelliarmus!' yelled Hermione, and took Rons wand away from him. 'Don't be stupid. You'll get yourself into trouble.'
'I've really had it with them,' Ron said, ears turning pink. 'You sure you can't work your charm on them too or something like that?'
Hermione blushed, but pulled herself together. 'No. Now go down there and show them what you're made of. I'll be down there in a while.'
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hermione took a seat in the stands of the stadium and looked out at the field around her. It looked just the same as it always had. Green grass, the Great Lake overlooking it, the 6 hoops standing tall, ready to be offended/defended. It truly was a magnificent pitch. Hermione sat down and was soon joined by Parvati and Lavender. Parvati was holding something to Lavenders eye.
'What's happened Lavender?' asked Hermione, getting out her wand.
'She defended Harry and Ron to a Slytherin who was saying rude things about them,' explained Parvati, removing the ice pack from Lavenders eye and allowing Hermione to inspect it.
'I see,' replied Hermione, muttering a chant. The swelling on Lavenders eye disappeared and she blinked. 'Ta,' she said.
'Very brave of you to take a beating like that Lavender,' Hermione said.
'I'm just sick of them. That bloody Nikolas Lestrange! He's in Muggle Studies with me, and spends the entire time talking about how all Muggle borns and people who like them should be smitten. Honestly, who does that?'
'Yeah,' replied Hermione. 'It's a pickle.'
A whistling noise distracted them, and they whipped around to see the players marching out onto the field. The Hufflepuffs, in yellow, looking fairly nervous, particularly the temporary Seeker, who was, though the right build for one, shaking so hard Hermione doubted he'd be able to control his direction when he was in the air.
And the Gryffindors, looking magnificent in their scarlet, came marching out, Harry and Ron among them. They both noticed her and waved enthusiastically. Hermione grinned back. She really did find her friends quite tops.
The captains, Harry and a Hufflepuff Hermione didn't really know that well, went and shook hands. Both smiled pleasantly at each other. Hermione found it a relief from the Gryffindor/Slytherin matches, whereby the handshake involved captains trying to break each others arms off.
The whistle sounded, and all 14 players rose from the ground. Madam Hooch walked to the centre of the field with the ball, and threw it up in the air, and the game was off.
Within 10 minutes the game was over, with Harry catching the snitch easily because the Hufflepuff Seeker nearly fainted at the start and had trouble pulling himself together for the rest of the extremely short match. It didn't stop the Gryffindors from being any less thrilled however, and Hermione was beside herself. She tore out of the bleachers and raced over to Harry and Ron, who grabbed her and hugged her mercilessly.
'You guys will easily win this year!' she gasped. 'That was fabulous! I couldn't be happier for you!'
'Yeah, and you need something happy in your life.'
Hermione turned around to see Nikolas Lestrange smirking at her. She looked him square in the eye.
'What do you mean by that?' she asked. Harry and Ron glanced at each other, slightly nervous.
'I mean, you need something happy in your life, considering everything else that's been happening to you.'
Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. 'Why? What else has been happening to me?'
Nikolas folded his arms carefully. 'Why, everything. Your illness, your mothers death, your worry that no-one loves you –'
Hermione gasped. She covered her mouth with her hands. 'How do you know about that?' she asked.
'Everyone knows,' replied Nikolas. He took a step or two closer to her. 'And you know what? No-one cares. No-one cares about you. The world isn't going to be saved, and you will never find enough love again, now that your mother's gone. She'll never be back . . .'
Nikolas pulled out his wand quickly and, before Hermione could stop him, yelled out 'insomniasta!' and Hermione fell immediately to the floor.
'No!' cried Harry and Ron, sinking down to her and checking for signs that she was still alive. Harry glared at Nikolas. 'What did you do to her?'
'Just gave her a little shut-eye,' replied Nikolas. And with that he took off, laughing his head off. Harry was about to run after him and let him have as many curses as he could muster, but Ron held him back.'
'Harry, look.'
Harry looked down and noticed blood trickling out of Hermiones neck.
*~*
Hermione looked at the mirror, razorblade in hand. There was no point. It was worthless. There was no reason for her to live any more. She aimed the razor at her neck, and began slicing it open. She could feel the blood trickling down. She was in pain, but she couldn't stop . . .
*~*
'Hermione!' yelled Harry. 'Wake up! Wake up!'
'Potter?' asked a voice before them. 'What's happening with Granger?'
Harry looked up to see Malfoy standing over them. He knelt down and looked at Hermione curiously, and very worriedly.
'That Lestrange kid. He did something to her. . . made her fall asleep . . . help me Malfoy, I can't wake her.'
*~*
Hermione walked into a field and yelled out, similar to how Amy Lee yells it out in the Evanescence song 'Tourniquet' 'I WANT TO DIE!!!!!!' And people began throwing things at her. She could feel them making contact with her head, and she hated it, but it was infinitely better then thinking about what she was going through . . .
*~*
'Granger?' said Malfoy, looking at her. Hermione didn't move, but Malfoy could see brusing on her. Malfoy knelt down and ran his hand through her hair. 'Wake up Granger,' he said. Then, before he realised what he was saying, 'I'll look after you.' Harry and Ron looked at him as if he were crazy, but what he'd said escaped their minds instantly when they saw Hermione waking up. Both of them threw their arms around her.
'I'm all right, I'm all right . . .' she reassured them.
'No, you're not,' both Harry and Ron replied instantly. 'You're coming with us to the Hospital Wing, and Madam Pomfrey is going to fix these up.' And with that Harry lifted her up and he and Ron proceeded to the library. Hermione, who's head was throbbing in undescribable pain, looked up to see Malfoy standing there. He gave her a smile. Hermione sighed to herself, then closed her eyes and tried not to think about the pain.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
OK, how was that? Very much a 'to be continued' chapter. Sorry it ended so abruptly. But I don't want it to get too long. That's all. Hope you liked it. Review to tell me that.
Hello all! It's the 9th March now, but very close to the 10th March. I'm just writing this bit now so that it has written and I have actually started it. I will perhaps write some more on Friday or during the week or whatever.
Anyway, reviews!
*~*Flutterling: you reckon I should explain more about hermiones dad? That could be done...I'll see what I can do. And no, still no wild sex :P. Be patient you!
*~*tomzgurl77: nothing sounds stupid in my review boards. Thank you for your encouragement! I'll keep writing. And yeah, don't you hate fast fics. 'hi. I love you. I love you too. Let's have wild sex in the bushes. Ok. End.' So STUPID! Anyway, yes.
*~*electra*27: hehe yeah I get confused with stories too. This one is about Hermione getting keduas syndrome and her mother has just died. Savvy?
*~*Little-Sailor-Girl: oh really? I'm sorry about that. In Australia you usually use ' instead of "most of the time, that's all. I'll try to bear your request in mind, but I don't promise anything.
*~*coolcat411: I needed Hermiones father to have a bit of an empathic moment with his daughter after he 'woke up', that's all. And yes, there will be much malfoy/Hermione interaction this chapter, I assure you.
*~*ILUVRONWEASLEY: my comp stuffs up, and I'm busy a lot more now, so I can't do that any more (. Oh well, I shall live.
*~*Mickey Sky: certainly, I shall write more. And thank you. I wanted it to be a sad one.
*~*bombshell: that's great. Here's your next chapter.
OK people, I must warn you, I'm drugged up on a mixture of anxiety, because I'm about to go to a busy shift at my place of employment, and this very strange music I'm listening to. So so strange . . .
Disclaimer: I own a birthday . . . on the 14th . . . power to the people, power to the people, power to the people, power to the people at home. I love that song. And, um . . . hopefully then I will own many many new things. I love birthdays . . . I really do.
OK, let's get to it.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning found Harry and Ron rushing down to the breakfast table, knowing that Hermione would be there fairly soon. Ron was all for offering nothing but empathy for their friend, but Harry's intentions were slightly different.
'We need to discuss with her about how her mother really died.
'Oh geez Harry, couldn't you cut her a bit of slack?' asked Ron. 'She doesn't need us harpooning on her at this time, does she?'
'But—'
'Come on Harry, we don't need to do this to her. We really don't. Not yet. Just give her a chance to feel a bit more normal, all right?'
Harry sighed. He knew he would be really pushing it if he did question Hermione, and he really cared about her. But this was Voldemort they were talking about. He didn't exactly wait around for future victims to get their heads together before killing them. However, he gave in, because Ron evidently felt it was the right thing to do. He definitely didn't have a good feeling about himself as he agreed, however.
'Thank you,' said Ron, dragging a plate of bacon towards him.
As Harry and Ron began to eat, they heard footsteps, and Ginny running up to join both of them.
'Been training hard?' Harry asked her, winking.
'Tremendously,' replied Ginny, grinning. 'There's no need to worry though, Hufflepuff are a pushover. . . OW!' Ginny was just rapped on the head by a Hufflepuff friend of hers who was walking by.
'Don't be so sure of that Ginny. You never should be. Relaxing is not an option.'
'Uh-huh. When's Hermione coming back?'
'In about 10 minutes,' said Ron.
'I feel so sorry for her,' Ginny commented airily. 'Imagine if that happened to us Ron.'
'Wouldn't be nice,' said Ron stiffly.
'What have we got this morning, Ron?' asked Harry.
'Um, I think it's Herbology. Yeah, then it's muggle studies. Remember?'
'Oh yeah. Good-o.' Both of them were fairly faint-hearted. They were both waiting for Hermione, and that was really all either of them were focusing on.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Now remember,' Hermiones father said to her, as Hermione was about to go through the fireplace. 'Don't worry about me.'
'Hermione shook her head up at her father. 'How can you ask me to do that?' she replied to him.
'Well, do your best. I'll see you at the summer holidays. In the meantime, write to me, all right?
'OK,' said Hermione, giving her father one last hug good-bye.
She then dug a handful of flew powder out of the pot that all the fireplaces were equipped with. She took a final deep breath. She'd become slightly nervous.
'Gryffindor Common Room,' she said loudly and clearly, throwing the powder onto the fire.
She was whisked away, and she emerged, slightly sick, a few moments later.
Brushing the soot off her robes, she peered around. It was the common room, all right. She left her bags there and hurried down to the Great Hall, so's to meet Harry and Ron quickly.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Hermione!'
Hermione whipped around from where she was looking, to find Harry and Ron sitting at the table. She rushed over to them and gave them both a bone- breaking embrace, which they gladly returned.
'Oh Hermione, we're so sorry,' Harry murmured to her.
Hermione smiled grimly. 'Be more worried for my father then for me,' she said.
'I still don't actually understand how your father woke up.' Said Ron.
'It's fairly simple,' replied Hermione. 'An insane person can often wake up if something sharp happens to them. The memories come flooding back in to them, or something like that. That's what happened to my dad.'
Harry furrowed his brow. 'Seems a bit strange,' he said.
Hermione shrugged. 'I won't focus on the details of it.'
'Nor will we,' said Ron, nudging Harry.
'Sure,' Harry replied airily. That plagued on his mind somehow. Surely can't happen with all insane people . . .
Herbology wasn't really that eventful. Muggle studies, the next period, was. Hermione decided to go to the quiet room to catch up on some stuff, so she zoomed up there and sat down, only to find Malfoy sitting opposite her.
'Hi,' she said, setting her books down. 'How've you been?'
'Well enough. It's you I'm worried about. How'd it all go?'
Hermione contemplated saying nothing, like she'd basically wanted to do for Harry and Ron. But for some reason, telling Maklfoy seemed more . . . right . . . then telling Harry and Ron. So she ended up telling him about the whole event, and exactly how she felt. Malfoy just sat there and listened, occasionally nodding and/or going 'I see'. By the time she was done, Hermione felt loads better about it all.
'I'd suggest not worrying about your dad so much,' Malfoy said. 'Particularly if he has that Hearthel bird looking after him. Worry a bit more about yourself.' His face turned, if possible, more serious. 'How have the dreams been going?'
Hermione smiled grimly to herself. 'I'm in constant pain. They're not stopping.'
'Where's the pain worst?' asked Malfoy.
Hermione sighed to herself, then removed the gloves she was wearing. Malfoy looked at Hermiones upturned wrists to see rather long red marks running down them.
'You've been cutting yourself in your sleep!?' he asked, bewildered.
Hermione nodded sadly. She rolled down the rocks she was wearing, to reveal similar marks. Malfoy gaped at them. Hermione could see him wanting to look at them more closely.
'Go ahead,' she said.
Malfoy slid off his chair and knelt in front of Hermiones leg. He ran his finger along wear the scars were. It felt cool, and sort of nice, to Hermione.
'These aren't too bad,' Malfoy was saying. 'The ones on your wrist look worse. Can I see?'
Hermione gave her wrists to him, and he looked at them.
'I repaired them as best I could, but the scars stay. Look,' Hermione showed him her cheek, the place where she was first hurt. 'It won't go away.'
'I'd say it will go away when you're healed,' he said, looking at her face. Hermione, for some reason, felt her face turning red. Malfoy noticed this too. 'You're blushing,' he said to her.
Hermione looking down at her knees. 'Yes . . . must be the humiliation of being so weak,' she said.
'Honestly Granger, you don't believe that. That's a really lame excuse for an excuse.'
Malfoy got up again and stood before Hermione. Hermione found this even more intimidating.
'Stop looking at me,' she said.
'Why?' he asked.
'Because . . . I feel uncomfortable.'
'You look good uncomfortable.'
'What? Not the time for flattery Malfoy.'
'Who said I was flattering you?'
'Just stop it!'
'No. Watch this.'
He drew himself to Hermiones eye level and just stared at her. Hermione was now the colour of a tomato, and some of her face had gone rather blotchy.
'You're such a prick.' She said.
'Aren't I though?' he said, grinning. Hermione turned away, and Malfoy stood up again.
'I intimidate you, don't I Granger?'
Hermione had never heard of something so absurd. 'No. Don't be ridiculous.'
'Whatever,' he said, taking out his key. 'The bell's ringing soon Granger. And you've done no catching up. Tut-tut. What are your teachers going to say?' And with that, he vanished.
Hermione sat there, completely lost. She couldn't understand how he could so so sensitive one minute, and a complete sarcastic, arrogant berk the next. It made no sense whatsoever.
What made even less sense was why she was so embarrassed when Malfoy was looking at her. Was she intimidated by him, like he said? It was possible. But why would she be? There was no reason why.
Or was there?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hermione went over to the Great Hall at dinner time, to discover Harry and Ron sitting there in their Quidditch robes, talking amiably. Hermione smiled to herself, and sat down next to Ron.
'Things looking up for the Quidditch match then?' she asked.
'Absolutely,' replied Harry. 'This one's in the bag. The Hufflepuff Seeker is looking a bit peaky, so it's possible he won't be able to play. It's in the bag for Gryffindor. Ron's in excellent form, as are Susie and Ginny.'
'Excellent,' replied Hermione.
'Yeah,' said Ron. 'Now the only thing we have to worry about is the Slytherins.'
'Why are you worrying about them?' asked Hermione. 'They're not playing.'
'No,' said Harry. 'But they're very keen to see Gryffindor lose, at all costs.'
'Aren't they always?'
'Yes, but they've had a lot more avengence since that Nikolas Lestrange came into the picture. Now that Malfoy isn't trying to make us Gryffindors miserable any more, Lestrange is now doing his worst. And he's a great deal more daring than Malfoy. He's willing to cheat. Charm bludgers and the like. We have to be careful.
'Why isn't Malfoy trying to throttle you.'
Ron looked at her then. 'Well surely you've noticed Hermione. He's obviously leeched off you or something like that. He doesn't want to do anything horrible any more. He actually wants to talk to non-Slytherin people. It's so great it's almost sickening.'
Hermione smiled to herself. That was good news.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hermione woke up on Saturday morning with strong feelings of nervousness. This was odd, because she wasn't playing. It was also somewhat logical, because after having been Harry and Ron's best friend for the past 6 years, she had a strong friendship bond with them, and was possibly feeling the nervousness for them.
She went downstairs quickly, after changing into Gryffindor-supporting attire. She passed the Slytherin table to many hisses and sneers. That was odd. They didn't think she was a player or anything, did they? She sat down at the Gryffindor table, took out her wand, and quickly mended last nights cuts. These ones were on her stomach, and, for the first time, she didn't seem to be able to fix them. She just stayed there, not doing anything. She was considering going to see Madam Pomfrey when Harry and Ron entered, both having remaining pieces of toast thrown at them by the Slytherin table. At which point Portus, from the Hufflepuff table, went 'Will you guys knock it off! WE'RE the team they're playing against, not you! Act with a bit of decorum!' and sat back down again. Harry and Ron rushed over to the table.
'They sneered at me,' said Hermione, as they sat down.
'Honestly,' replied Harry, more to himself then to Hermione. 'Nikolas must have really worked on them. They weren't half that bad on the match day where we played THEM.'
'Ahh don't worry about it,' said Ron, placing a hand on Harrys shoulder. 'We'll show them when we beat Hufflepuff. I've asked Madam Hooch specifically to guard the balls with her life, which she was only too happy to do, considering the time where Nikolas accidently ran into her with a broomstick when she said Gryffindor were likely winners of the cup.'
'Now that's childish,' said Hermione.
'Don't I know,' replied Ron, eating a piece of toast. Hermione noticed he was eating for the first time before a Quidditch match. He definitely wasn't doing it with his usual gusto however.
Harry and Ron were about to leave when Nikolas walked past the table with Crabbe and Goyle, and the two thugs pushed Harry and Ron's heads into their empty cereal bowls, and walked away again. Ron levelled up immediately and took out his wand.
'Expelliarmus!' yelled Hermione, and took Rons wand away from him. 'Don't be stupid. You'll get yourself into trouble.'
'I've really had it with them,' Ron said, ears turning pink. 'You sure you can't work your charm on them too or something like that?'
Hermione blushed, but pulled herself together. 'No. Now go down there and show them what you're made of. I'll be down there in a while.'
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hermione took a seat in the stands of the stadium and looked out at the field around her. It looked just the same as it always had. Green grass, the Great Lake overlooking it, the 6 hoops standing tall, ready to be offended/defended. It truly was a magnificent pitch. Hermione sat down and was soon joined by Parvati and Lavender. Parvati was holding something to Lavenders eye.
'What's happened Lavender?' asked Hermione, getting out her wand.
'She defended Harry and Ron to a Slytherin who was saying rude things about them,' explained Parvati, removing the ice pack from Lavenders eye and allowing Hermione to inspect it.
'I see,' replied Hermione, muttering a chant. The swelling on Lavenders eye disappeared and she blinked. 'Ta,' she said.
'Very brave of you to take a beating like that Lavender,' Hermione said.
'I'm just sick of them. That bloody Nikolas Lestrange! He's in Muggle Studies with me, and spends the entire time talking about how all Muggle borns and people who like them should be smitten. Honestly, who does that?'
'Yeah,' replied Hermione. 'It's a pickle.'
A whistling noise distracted them, and they whipped around to see the players marching out onto the field. The Hufflepuffs, in yellow, looking fairly nervous, particularly the temporary Seeker, who was, though the right build for one, shaking so hard Hermione doubted he'd be able to control his direction when he was in the air.
And the Gryffindors, looking magnificent in their scarlet, came marching out, Harry and Ron among them. They both noticed her and waved enthusiastically. Hermione grinned back. She really did find her friends quite tops.
The captains, Harry and a Hufflepuff Hermione didn't really know that well, went and shook hands. Both smiled pleasantly at each other. Hermione found it a relief from the Gryffindor/Slytherin matches, whereby the handshake involved captains trying to break each others arms off.
The whistle sounded, and all 14 players rose from the ground. Madam Hooch walked to the centre of the field with the ball, and threw it up in the air, and the game was off.
Within 10 minutes the game was over, with Harry catching the snitch easily because the Hufflepuff Seeker nearly fainted at the start and had trouble pulling himself together for the rest of the extremely short match. It didn't stop the Gryffindors from being any less thrilled however, and Hermione was beside herself. She tore out of the bleachers and raced over to Harry and Ron, who grabbed her and hugged her mercilessly.
'You guys will easily win this year!' she gasped. 'That was fabulous! I couldn't be happier for you!'
'Yeah, and you need something happy in your life.'
Hermione turned around to see Nikolas Lestrange smirking at her. She looked him square in the eye.
'What do you mean by that?' she asked. Harry and Ron glanced at each other, slightly nervous.
'I mean, you need something happy in your life, considering everything else that's been happening to you.'
Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. 'Why? What else has been happening to me?'
Nikolas folded his arms carefully. 'Why, everything. Your illness, your mothers death, your worry that no-one loves you –'
Hermione gasped. She covered her mouth with her hands. 'How do you know about that?' she asked.
'Everyone knows,' replied Nikolas. He took a step or two closer to her. 'And you know what? No-one cares. No-one cares about you. The world isn't going to be saved, and you will never find enough love again, now that your mother's gone. She'll never be back . . .'
Nikolas pulled out his wand quickly and, before Hermione could stop him, yelled out 'insomniasta!' and Hermione fell immediately to the floor.
'No!' cried Harry and Ron, sinking down to her and checking for signs that she was still alive. Harry glared at Nikolas. 'What did you do to her?'
'Just gave her a little shut-eye,' replied Nikolas. And with that he took off, laughing his head off. Harry was about to run after him and let him have as many curses as he could muster, but Ron held him back.'
'Harry, look.'
Harry looked down and noticed blood trickling out of Hermiones neck.
*~*
Hermione looked at the mirror, razorblade in hand. There was no point. It was worthless. There was no reason for her to live any more. She aimed the razor at her neck, and began slicing it open. She could feel the blood trickling down. She was in pain, but she couldn't stop . . .
*~*
'Hermione!' yelled Harry. 'Wake up! Wake up!'
'Potter?' asked a voice before them. 'What's happening with Granger?'
Harry looked up to see Malfoy standing over them. He knelt down and looked at Hermione curiously, and very worriedly.
'That Lestrange kid. He did something to her. . . made her fall asleep . . . help me Malfoy, I can't wake her.'
*~*
Hermione walked into a field and yelled out, similar to how Amy Lee yells it out in the Evanescence song 'Tourniquet' 'I WANT TO DIE!!!!!!' And people began throwing things at her. She could feel them making contact with her head, and she hated it, but it was infinitely better then thinking about what she was going through . . .
*~*
'Granger?' said Malfoy, looking at her. Hermione didn't move, but Malfoy could see brusing on her. Malfoy knelt down and ran his hand through her hair. 'Wake up Granger,' he said. Then, before he realised what he was saying, 'I'll look after you.' Harry and Ron looked at him as if he were crazy, but what he'd said escaped their minds instantly when they saw Hermione waking up. Both of them threw their arms around her.
'I'm all right, I'm all right . . .' she reassured them.
'No, you're not,' both Harry and Ron replied instantly. 'You're coming with us to the Hospital Wing, and Madam Pomfrey is going to fix these up.' And with that Harry lifted her up and he and Ron proceeded to the library. Hermione, who's head was throbbing in undescribable pain, looked up to see Malfoy standing there. He gave her a smile. Hermione sighed to herself, then closed her eyes and tried not to think about the pain.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
OK, how was that? Very much a 'to be continued' chapter. Sorry it ended so abruptly. But I don't want it to get too long. That's all. Hope you liked it. Review to tell me that.