Chapter 34-

AN- Sorry that it has taken me so long to update. Thanks for being patient…I really like this chapter and I hope that you will too.

Last Time

Tayler turned to Draco and her eyes immediately fell. "We've met." She said as she turned back to Ginny. "I really have to be going. See you later, I'm sure."

"Okay…bye." she said as Tayler walked away.

Hermione turned to Draco. "What happened between you and her?"

"Well, we had a small…umm run in a while ago…"

"What sort of run in?" Hermione asked when his voice trailed off.

"It's a long story."

"I don't care, I want to know." she said.

"Fine, but you're not going to like it." Draco said, surrendering. "Back in 5th year, I met Hin--Tayler. I met Tayler Hines for the first time. It was the summer after 5th year actually. He said as his thoughts began to wonder. "Anyway, when I got home that summer, my mom and Lucius were gone. There was a letter on the table when I got there. The letter was from the Ministry of Magic telling me that my father was sent to Azkaban and that my mother was in the mental ward at St. Mungos. I was sad for my mom, but I couldn't have been happier that my father was gone. I had the entire manner to myself and one day I got really board. I decided to explore my fathers wing since I had never been permitted to step foot in it. After an hour or so, I got board and turned to leave the wing. Then, something caught my eye. I turned to see a nearly invisible crack in the wall. I went up to it and it turned out to be a trapped door. After what seemed like hours, I figured out how to open it and went in. I only had to walk for about five minutes when I came to the door. It was locked, so I magically opened it. When I was inside, all I could see was darkness. I lit my wand and I immediately wished I hadn't. As my eyes scanned the room I saw various torture devices, chains, and ever a wall of swords. It was nothing like any kind of dungeons that I have ever seen before. Then I saw it…I saw her…." he trailed off for a minute before clearing his throat and continuing. "Hines, Tayler was chained to the wall. She was completely still and I couldn't tell if she was breathing. I walked up to her and immediately recognized her as Tayler, the Gryffindor. When I got a little closer I could see bruises contaminating her pale skin. Her face was void of all color except the brown-red color of dried blood. She was wearing clothes, but they were ragged and torn from various beating and torturing she had endured. I reached up and checked her throat for a pulse and was relieved to find that she was still among the living. I immediately knew that this was my father's dirty work, and that he was punishing me if I did anything about it. I started to walk away when I remembered that he was in Azkaban and couldn't do anything to me. I pulled my wand out once again and unlocked the heavy metal chains around her wrists. I took her to my room and took care of her. At that instant I realized that muggle-borns weren't all that bad. Then, when she finally regained her consciousness, she saw me and ran. She thought that I was going to hurt her like my father did. I let her go. I wanted to confront her when 6th year started, but she never came back to Hogwarts. Up till now I thought that she was dead…" his voice trailed off for a second and Hermione spoke up.

"Oh Draco--"

"I'm not finished." he said, cutting her off. He did not want to hear her pity him. "My dad managed to get out of Azkaban that winter and I didn't know about it. I went home from Christmas vacation expecting an empty house. What I got was an irate father and a horrified mother. I knew that he had found Tayler missing and that he was pissed. After that, he used the Crutacius Curse on me every day until I got back from vacation. Then, he got mad that I left, so he started taking his anger out on my mom. He did it until she died…"

There was an awkward silence filling the deck and no body moved. "I'm going to bed." Draco declared and walked away.

Hermione wanted to go to him, but it was clear that he needed to be alone.

Draco turned and walked towards the elevator. When he for there, he pressed the button to go down and the wall immediately opened and he stepped in.

For some unknown reason, Draco was fuming. Telling that story for the first time had really made him upset. It was a relief to finally tell someone, but it had made him really mad. He wasn't mad at Hermione or anything, but he was mad at himself and his father. As he walked towards his room, he ran into someone who was turning the corner. Both boys fell to the floor.

Draco got to his feet and glared at the three boys that were standing in front of him. The guys glared back at him and looked like they were going to kill him. He was really not in the mood for this.

"Watch where you are going, Blondie." said the boy he had ran into.

"Whatever." Draco said as he tried to walk around them.

"No." The boy said as he grabbed Draco's arm. "You ran into me and I believe that I deserve an apology.

"I am not going to apologize to a filthy git like you." Draco said through gritted teeth. He then yanked his arm away and turned to walk back towards the elevator.

"Stop!!" the boy yelled to Draco's back. "Go get him!" he ordered. Draco heard two sets of footsteps behind him only moments before two sets of arm grab him. They pulled him back to their leader and held him tightly. "I told you not to walk away from me!!" the boy yelled as he rose up his fist and punched him hard in the stomach.

Draco doubled over and would've fallen if the two boys hadn't been holding him up. "Now apologize!!" the boy yelled as he drew his arm back once again.

Draco just stood there and stared at the boy in front of him.

"APOLOGIZE!!!" he yelled as he punched him in the face.

Draco continued glaring at him.

"Stupid git! You too afraid to fight back." the boy taunted as his friends sniggered beside Draco.

"Let's teach him a lesson, boys." The two boys let go of Draco and began hitting and kicking him. Draco fell to the ground, but the beating continued.

Each boy took their turn kicking or punching him, but Draco made no move to fight back or defend himself. He hated himself for everything he had done and for letting his father kill his mother. He closed his eyes and endured the pain. He never even cried out.

Suddenly Draco heard a scream. He opened his eyes as he saw someone running towards him. "Stop, get off him!!" the voice yelled. Draco tried to recognize the voice, but he knew that he was losing consciousness. He just couldn't focus.

The beating continued as if the boys hadn't been able to hear the desperate call from the girl. The girl continued to approach him and she grabbed the first boys arm. The boy shoved her out of the way.

As she fell she said, "Erik?!?!"

The boys immediately stopped and turned to the fallen girl.

"Hermione?" the boy named Erik asked. Hermione just stared at him, unbelieving. "I am so sorry, Hermione. Here, let me help you up." he said as he leaned to help her up. She immediately backed up towards Draco.

By now, Draco was barely clinging to consciousness.

"Hermione, it's okay. I won't hurt you." Erik said in a soft, comforting voice as he continued to walk towards her.

She continued to move away until she was back to back with Draco. "Leave me alone!" she whispered.

"Aww, come here. We can go to my room baby." he said in an attempt at a seductive voice.

"Stop. Go away!" Hermione squealed in fear.

"No!! You are going to come to my room with me!" he yelled as he pulled her up. Then he turned to the other boys and said, "Get rid of that one. Or I guess you can just leave him here. Some body's bound to find him eventually. He might even live. I don't care." Then, he grabbed her arm and pulled her down the hall.

"No, stop!! Draco!!" she yelled as she fought against the grip he had on her arm.

Erik opened the door to his room and shoved her inside. He slammed the door shut and threw her into the wall. Hermione's head crashed into the wall and she immediately felt her consciousness slip.

"Now, I was going to wait for you to come to me, but I think I am in the mood now. What do ya say?" Erik asked as Hermione tried her hardest to maintain consciousness.

Tears began flooding form her eyes as she shook her head furiously. 'This can't be happening again.' she thought as he approached her. She slid to the floor and pulled her legs up against her chest.

"Oh come on." he said in and half playful half angry voice. Hermione continued to shake her head and he continued to approach. "Well, too damn bad. You really don't have any say in the matter."

"STOP!!!!!!!!" Came a loud voice from the doorway. Erik spun around to see who was at the door and a wide smile spread across his face.

"Back for some more?" he asked as he glided towards the figure at the door. "Why don't you leave before you get hurt even more?"

"How about you stay away from my girlfriend!" the boy, who Hermione figured it, was Draco, said through gritted teeth. "Pick on someone your own size you bastard!"

"Oooh. This coming from the guy who I just beat the shit out of in the hallway." Erik teased. "Gary! David! Get this idiot out of my site!!" Erik yelled as he gave Draco a smug look. When no answer came he looked back at the smirking boy in front of him.

Draco gave a low, satisfied laugh before saying, "They can't help you now. In fact, I am pretty sure that they won't be able to help you for a long, long time. Now, since this is much more of a fair fight, let's go."

"You ass hole!!!!" Erik yelled as he charged at Draco. He lunged forward, but Draco moved and he hit the ground. Erik jumped to his feet, only to be knocked down again by Draco.

"Did you actually think that you could beat me? Now get the hell out of here before you lose the ability to walk." Draco growled.

Erik quickly got to his feet and ran. "I will get you for this, ass hole!!" he yelled as he literally ran for his life.

Draco, still on the brink of consciousness, began walking towards Hermione, but collapsed halfway there.

"Draco?!?" Hermione yelled as she crawled to him. 'Oh no.' Hermione thought. 'What am I going to do? We have got to get out of here!' Hermione racked her mind for several minutes before deciding that there was no way that she could leave him here, so she would have no choice but to get them out herself.

It took her ten minutes, but she was finally able to get him on her shoulder in a fireman's carry. It took all of the strength she had, but she finally got up and began walking. They were about halfway down the hall when her legs gave out and they went toppling to the ground. Tears began streaming down her face again as she tried to find the strength to get up again. After a few more minutes, she was forced to give up as the dizziness enveloped her. "Draco, wake up!!" she yelled at him in desperation, but he made no move. "Please…" she trailed off as she heard footsteps approaching. Panic ran through her veins once again as her whole body tensed. 'They're back…' was all she could think as she tried in vain to make them look as small and unnoticeable as possible.

Then she heard the people talking. "…I hope they're okay. They both seemed really upset." said the voice of none other than Ginny Weasley.

Hermione was overcome with relief as she tried to find her voice. After three tries, she was finally able to yell 'Help' to her friends.

The footsteps stopped and there was silence foe a second before she heard, "What was that?" from the unmistakable voice of Ron Weasley.

"Ron!! Help me!!!" Hermione yelled as loud as she could.

The footsteps suddenly turned into an all out run. Harry, Ron, and Ginny suddenly turned the corner and skidded to a stop right in front of Draco and Hermione.

"What happened?!?" Harry asked.

"Get…Draco…inside…" Hermione mumbled before letting the darkness envelope her.

Hermione was dancing around in a comforting darkness. 'This is so nice.' she thought as she twirled 'round and 'round. 'Just me and this wonderful darkness.'

Suddenly she heard something that interrupted her peace. She stopped twirling and listened to the voice. "…Why isn't she awake yet?" "I dunno. She will be" "Hermione, wake up" Suddenly she felt someone shaking her. She struggled to maintain the peace, but the shaking wouldn't stop. Hermione opened her eyes and realized that she was staring straight into the face of Albus Dumbledore.

"Good." he said as he helped her sit up. "Now, do you remember what happened to you?"

Hermione closed her eyes and tired to think, but she couldn't remember anything. She opened her eyes after a few minutes, and looked around the room. The memories flooded beck to her and she immediately scanned the room for Draco. She found him lying on the couch across from her. Panic spread across her face as she strained her eyes to see if he was breathing. She couldn't tell. All she could see was the blood that covered his body and his paler than usual skin. 'No! He can't be…he's not…'

AN- Well that's all. Sorry again for the wait…love ya!!! Until next time…bye bye!!