Chapter 14-

AN- Thanks to everyone one who supports me. I heart all of you!! Snaps to all of my wonderful reviewers!!!

On with the story…

Hermione woke up to a horrendous pain in her stomach. It was not like a tummy ache. It was more like she had a few broken ribs. She opened her eyes and looked around. She saw that she was definitely not in her own bed. Instead of her deep red curtains, she was surrounded by white ones. This place was very familiar though. She soon realized that she was in the Hospital Wing. 'Why am I here?' she wondered. 'Oh…' she thought as all of the memories flowed back to her. 'Ron and Draco…They hit me.' Tears were filling her eyes as she remembered every detail of the day before. She knew that they had not intended on hurting her, but they still did.

She sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes. 'Are they here?" she thought she pulled back the curtain. Her eyes swept the room to find it completely empty. 'Good.' She thought as she moved off of the bed. A searing pain came from her stomach once again. She pulled up her hospital gown to look at where Ron had hit her. She was stunned when she saw dark bruises covering most of her stomach. 'He must have hit me with all of his strength.' She shuddered and immediately straightened the gown.

'I need to get out of here.' she thought as she looked for her clothes. She founds them sitting on a table by the door. She snuck over to them and quickly dressed. When she was finished, she crept towards the exit. She slipped out of the room and quickly walked down the hall. She was halfway to her room when she realized that Draco might be there. She had no idea what time of the day it was. She only knew that it was day. She immediately turned and walked towards the library. It was her only safe haven. She did not want to see Draco or Ron, but especially not Draco. He had cheated on her and she was still really mad about that. She had out her trust in him and he had betrayed that trust.

When she reached the library she breathed a sigh of relief. However, her relieved, comfortable feeling died almost immediately. She saw people getting up to leave the library and they were all staring at her. Then when they passed her they would start whispering… "Did you see her face?" "Merlin, she looks bad." "What happened to her?"

Her eyes were starting to tear up, and then she passed the little mirror in the back of the library. She was shocked at her reflection. She really did look bad. She had deep, dark circles under her eyes, a black eye, a bruised cheek, and a fat lip. She stood there for a minute, staring at her reflection, before turning away and running.

When she finally looked up she realized that she was in front of the Gryffindor Common Room. She whispered the password and slipped inside. She hung back in the shadows, not wanting to run into Ron. It was almost completely empty. 'It must be dinner.' she thought as she moved closer, trying to see who was still there. Finally, she saw Harry sitting in front of the fire doing homework.

She stood and watched him for a minute, before tears began to cloud her vision once again. She slowly lowered herself to the floor and cried. She tried to muffle the sounds by burying her face in her hands.

~Harry~

Harry had skipped lunch, so that he could finish his homework. He wasn't hungry anyway. He was trying his hardest to focus, but he was thinking about Hermione. 'Stupid Madame Pomfrey won't let anyone visit her until she woke up. I feel so bad for her. Why did she have to step between them?' he thought.

Suddenly he thought he heard something. He froze and strained his ears to hear what had made the noise. 'Nobody should be here. Lunch started a few minutes ago.' he thought. Then he heard it again. He knew that it was the sound of someone crying.

He stood up and walked towards the sound. As he got closer, he could see a girl curled up on the floor trembling. He leaned down and tapped her on the shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asked.

She flinched when he touched her, so he pulled his hand back. She stayed completely still for a minute before uncurling herself and looking up at him.

He immediately recognized her as his best friend Hermione. He saw the bruises that littered her face, the tears on her cheeks, and her pained eyes.

He sat down next to her and reached over to wrap his arms around her. When he pulled her into a tight hug, she flinched and grabbed her stomach. He pulled back and looked at her. She tried to smile, but he could tell that she was in a great amount of pain. He gently moved her hands and lifted up the hem of her shirt. She didn't have the strength to protest, so she let him look.

He gazed at her battered stomach. She had deep bruises that nearly covered her stomach. He pushed her shirt back down and looked up into her eyes. "Ron and Malfoy did this to you?" he asked.

She looked away, but nodded.

He gently took her chin in his hand and turned her head to face him. "I am so sorry."

"What? Why would you be sorry?" she asked.

"If I would have stayed with Ron after Transfiguration, none of this would have ever happened." he said.

"No, Harry. This is not your fault. Do not blame yourself for something that you couldn't have stopped."

"Okay."

She smiled and then there was a short pause before Hermione broke the silence. "I was thinking... would you mind staying with me tonight?"

"Where? In your room?" he asked.

"No, I don't want to see Draco right now."

"Here?"

"No. I don't want to see Ron either."

"Where?"

"Ummmm, I know. The Room of Requirement."

"Sure. Let me just get a few things from my room." he said and he was off. He ran up the staircase and disappeared from site.

After a few minutes, he returned. He was carrying an overnight bag, his school stuff, and his invisibility cloak. "Why are you bringing the cloak?" she asked.

"It's for you. You said you didn't want Ron or Draco to see you, but you still need to get clothes. This way we can run up to your room and not risk a run in with Draco." he replied.

"Brilliant! Let's go. I am tired." she said as she dragged him towards the portrait hole. Harry threw the cloak over them and they were off.

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Fifteen minutes later they were standing in front of the Room of Requirement. They both concentrated on needing somewhere to stay, and a door appeared. They walked in and looked around. Hermione's eyes skimmed the room. There were two beds pressed together with two identical dressers beside each one, a fire blazing at the other end of the room, a shelf with all kinds of snacks on it, and a small refrigerator. The room was done almost completely in blue. The colors calmed her. It was all together a pretty welcoming room.

They both unpacked their things and out them away. Hermione got out her pajamas and went into the lavatory to change. It was also done in blue. She quickly dressed and went back to Harry. He was sitting on his bed reading a Quidditch book. He had already changed into his pajamas, a pair of red silk pants. She looked over his bare chest for a minute, and then shook herself. Suddenly she realized something. Their pajamas matched exactly. Her pajamas included a red silk spaghetti strap top and a pair of red silk shorts. Her mother had given it to her for her birthday. She blushed, and then cleared her throat to get his attention.

Harry looked up and smiled. "Nice pajamas, copy cat." he joked.

"Very funny." she said as she went and sat down on the other bed. They talked for a while before they both drifted off into a deep sleep.

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Hermione slowly woke up as she began to feel a slight tugging on her hair. She opened her eyes and saw Harry lying next to her. He had been playing with her hair. His eyes were closed. It was as if he was doing this in his sleep. She moved closer to the warmth of his body. This caused him to open his eyes. He looked into her deep, brown eyes and smiled.

"Finally awake are we?"

"Yep. How long have you been awake?" she asked as she smiled and curled up against him.

"Ummm. An hour?" he thought out loud.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" she asked.

"You looked like you needed the sleep. Plus, you are too cute when you sleep." he kidded.

"Thanks, I think."

"Are you ready to face them?" he said in a suddenly very serious voice.

Hermione didn't know if she was, but she said, "Yes. Let's go."

He nodded and they began gathering their things. "Thanks Harry." she said as they were exiting the room.

"Any time. I would gladly cuddle with you anytime." he said, smiling brightly.

"Boys." Hermione muttered under her breath as they walked down the corridor.

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When they got to the Great Hall, they walked straight to their table and sit down.

Hermione saw Ron staring into space. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his food hadn't been touched. When she sat down next to him, he seemed to snap back into reality. "Hermione?! Oh thank Merlin! I was so worried about you. When Madame Pomfrey told me that you were missing I stayed up all night looking for you." he said as he gave her a tight bear hug.

She squealed and pulled away. She held her stomach in pain. He looked at her and saw her face for the first time. "Oh Merlin! I can't believe I did this! Can you ever forgive me?" he asked.

"You didn't do that." she said in a strained voice. "You did this." She said as she lifted her shirt and showed him her stomach.

He visibly paled as he gazed at her badly bruised stomach. He opened his mouth as if he would say something, but immediately closed it.

After a few minutes he said, "I am so sorry!"

"It is okay. I forgive you." She said as she fixed her shirt and began eating.

"Ummmm…'Mione? I have to tell you something." Ron said after a minute.

"What is it, Ron?"

"It's about Malfoy." he said through gritted teeth. "He didn't cheat on you."

"What?" she said, dropping her fork onto her plate.

"He didn't cheat on you."

"How do you know?"

"Well, when Madame Pomfrey kicked us out of the Hospital Wing, we got into another fight. I told him that you didn't want to talk to him ever again because he cheated on you with Pansy. Then he froze. He gave me a questioning look, and I told him that you found her in his bed. He was startled at first, but then he explained what happened. He found her in his bed that night. She was trying to seduce him. He kicked her out. He didn't cheat on you." Ron explained.

Hermione sat there with her mouth hanging open. When she finally remembered how to talk she said, "Oh Merlin! I never even considered that! Wait…why did you tell me that? You hate Draco." she asked.

"Because you deserve to know the truth."

"Thank you so much Ron! I love you!" she said as she stood up and ran to her common room to wait for Draco.