Hermione's POV

She stepped closer to Draco. He held his hand out to her. She took it, his hand being perfectly smooth and soft. She looked at the skin, it was completely flawless. He pulled her closer to him.

"I'll ask you again, can I trust you?" he looked deep into her eyes as if searching for the truth.

"My answer is still yes." he pointed toward the bowl, his pensieve. Hermione lowered her face to it. The smooth, silvery liquid began to swirl, faster and faster. It became a crystal blur before her. She felt herself slowly slipping into its depths. She saw no more of Draco's bedroom. In its place was a cold, damp room. The walls being made of stone. She looked around and saw devices she never imagined could have existed. Spikes rose out of the floor in places, knifes of all lengths hung from the racks. Rows after rows of torture devices were before her. She turned to see a tall dark man standing at the other side of the large room. He wore a long black cloak, looking very menacingly. Another figure stood before him. Hermione stepped forward to get a better view. As the low lighting hit the figure she saw that it was indeed whom she feared it would be. Draco Malfoy. He was several years younger but he could not be mistaken. He stood before the man, his head held high.

"Do you have an answer?" the cloaked man spoke, his voice ringing out eerily.

"Yes."

"And I'm sure it is the right one."

"Of course it is."

"I'm waiting, Draco."

"No, I will not join forces with you." Draco stood before the man, never once looking away as he spoke.

"I'm disappointed, Draco, that was the wrong answer." Before Draco could respond the man had pulled a wand from his cloak and aimed it at his chest. A call of "Crucio!" rang through the dungeon. The red light emitted from the tip of the man's wand fell on Draco. Spasms raged through the boy but he never once fell to the ground, withering in pain as so many full grown wizards had done before him. He stood before the man, shaking with pain. A sweat broke out on his forehead, but he never cried out. The man lifted the curse after 45 seconds, that seemed to be an eternity. Draco fell to the ground but made not a sound. The cloaked man pulled his hood back, revealing slick blonde hair so similar to Draco's. With a satisfied smirk he left his son laying on the ground. Hermione ran over to the boy but found she was no longer in the dungeons but instead had entered what appeared to be an elaborately decorated ballroom. Dark cloaked figures surrounded Hermione but looked through her. She turned to see a young man bound by ropes standing in the center of the circle. "Avada Kedavra!" was bellowed to the right of her. She watched in horror as the young man fell to the ground, dead. Once again the memories shifted. She found herself in a bedroom this time. It was decorated in a deep violet. She heard a shuffling from outside the room and the door swung open. In stepped a very angry looking Lucius, dragging a screaming and kicking Narcissa behind him.

"SHUT UP BITCH!" he bellowed. She whimpered in his arms as he threw her upon the bed. She struggled to get up but was thrust back down by the forceful male. He turned to his side long enough to grab a whip. He turned back to the crying woman. He lashed out at her, striking her pale flesh.

"Never interfere when I'm working with the boy!" he continued his brutal beating of his wife, never hesitating as the whip ripped through her thin vulnerable skin. She cried out and tried desperately to kick him away, only causing him to lash out with more force. As he drew back the whip to again hit her Hermione saw that it was now bathed in crimson. She looked back down at the brutal scene before her. Narcissa lay curled on her side, bleeding. He clothes were torn from the strip of leather that continuously came crashing down upon her. Her eyes were closed and the tears fell freely down her face. This was not at all the woman whom Hermione had met before. Lucius finally laid the whip down once he was satisfied at his wife's gruesome state. He stood before his battered wife. "Never disobey me, woman." he climbed onto the bed, straddling his wife's figure. He pulled her arms away from her body, they lay lifeless at her side. She kept her eyes shut, knowing what would come next. She didn't even struggle against him as he tore away what remained of her clothing. She whimpered as he pulled her legs apart. Hermione quickly lowered her vision and begged for it to be over. She would give anything to be back in Draco's bedroom. She longed to be in his protective arms, she didn't even think twice about her so forward thoughts now, she just wanted out. She heard the scream as Lucius entered Narcissa. Hermione felt herself falling away, spinning back into the present, far far away from the past. She collapsed into Draco. He held her tight, knowing exactly what she had just witnessed. He brought his hand up to her face and brushed away the layer of tears that had fallen. She hadn't even realized that she was crying until he had done that. She pulled away from the boy and stood there shaking.

"I, I'm so sorry, Draco. I had no idea."

"I know you didn't know. No one knows. Except you now." he looked over at her. She had moved to sit on the edge of the bed, getting over the shock of what she had just witnessed.

"How can your father be so cruel?" she asked, looking up into his face. He just shook his head. For once he had no answer. Hermione got up from her perch on top of Draco's bed. She walked over to him, capturing him in a strong embrace before she turned and left for her own bedroom. She needed to be alone and sort through all she now knew about her once hated and misunderstood enemy.

Draco's POV

Draco stood shocked as he watched Hermione rush to her own room. He couldn't believe that he had just shown her his true life. He had never trusted anyone and had never had any real friends. Not like the trio anyway. Of course he had his cronies and there was always Blaise but they were all loyal to the darkness. They always turned on one another and Draco wasn't one to risk his life because of the idiocy of another. Yet he had just opened up to his long time enemy. He showed her his true self. A person he had kept locked away for as long as he could remember. She had given him no reason to trust her and all he had was her word that she wouldn't tell. And for some reason that seemed like more than enough. He knew she wouldn't turn on him, but why he knew this he had no idea. He sat down on the edge of his bed, his head in his hands. He had found himself in this position very often since school had started. He recalled Hermione's reaction to the memories. While she was in them she reached out for Draco. He had taken her hand without realizing it and when she came back she didn't hesitate to come to him. She had buried her head in him and had seemed to trust him. Draco sat shaking his head. Only a few days ago he would have pushed her away making some rude comment about her filth getting all over him. And yet now he wanted to hold her again. He laid back in his bed, still in his school robes and closed his eyes. He fell deep into calm dreams filled with the memory of her touch.

Hermione's POV

Hermione walked as if in a daze into her room and sat down on her own bed. Her mind constantly replayed what she had witnessed only a matter of seconds before. Oh how wrongly she had misjudged him, how everyone had misjudged him. 'He hides his pain well.' she thought. She could not get the brutality she had seen to leave her vision. She closed her eyes and could hear the screaming. She thought over all she had learned. One thing in particular stood out in her mind. Draco Malfoy, son of the Death Eater, was against the Dark. She stood up and walked over to her door. She had to tell Harry. But wait, she promised Draco. She stood with her hand balancing uncertainly on the doorknob, weighing her choices. She hated to keep something from her best friend but she couldn't betray Draco. He had opened to her, something she thought that he had probably never done for anyone else. 'Why me?' rang through her head, but remained unanswered. She sighed, turning around and went back to lay on her bed. She would keep her mouth shut for Draco's sake. But she had to talk to him about it soon. She went to stand up but was overwhelmed by exhaustion. She laid back down, still in her school robes also, and fell into a deep sleep, remembering the touch of Draco.

She woke the next morning and hurried to get ready. Maybe if she could meet Draco as he was leaving the common room she could talk to him about the previous night. She rushed around, putting on her new school robes and pulling her hair up. Once she was done she stepped out into the common room, just as Draco did the same.

"Draco, wait up I want to talk."

"Not now, Mudblood." he sneered at her. It was not at all the good morning she had been expecting. It was nothing he hadn't said before but now, for some reason, it hurt more than it ever had. She watched in bewilderment as Draco walked out of the room and down the hall, leaving Hermione behind. Had she dreamed all of the trust and friendliness of the night before? She shook her head and headed out the door to meet her best friends.

The day passed by quickly. Over all it was a good day, but of course every good day has at least one bad point. Every time Hermione passed by Draco he made some comment, such as he had done all the previous years. She searched his eyes, hoping for some small clue as to what was going on but each time he seemed to sense it and quickly would wipe away any indication. Lunch was the worst. Draco completely ignored her, he would look over everyone else, laughing and tormenting her friends and those around her but he would just pass over her. The more she tried to meet his eyes the more he avoided it. Charms class flew by, and Hermione, for once, wished it had lasted all afternoon. Next she had potions and of course her partner, Draco most likely would act as though she wasn't there.

She walked into the class and took her seat next to him. He looked up at her and to her surprise, spoke.

"Granger" he said in acknowledgement.

"So you're talking to me now?"

"Seeing as how you are my partner, as much as I don't want to I have to talk to you." he smirked at her. She felt the anger build up. She would not let him get the best of her, not now. They went through the rest of class talking as little as possible. She tried to bring up a conversation but quickly gave up when he refused to have a civil talk. They settled for throwing insults at one another as often as they could. Hermione was all too glad when Snape released them. She had to get away from Malfoy before she lost it. She hurried for her common room, thinking that he wouldn't go back there until after dinner. She had noticed that he spent most of his time in the library right after classes, in the restricted section. She knew not why he spent so much time there and she figured she didn't want to know. She rushed to the portrait, saying her good byes to Harry and Ron and stepped through the opening. She sighed as she saw that it was empty of Draco. She laid her bag down on the table and walked over to the bookcase. She selected a book that she had read before but had liked. She sat on the couch, falling into the story. Once again she was lost to the knowledge that someone had walked in. They moved over next to her and sat down.

"Is that a good book, Hermione?" he asked her with a smile. She jumped slightly at the sudden noise. She looked up at the now seemingly friendly Draco Malfoy.

"Oh so now you act all friendly when just a half hour ago you were finding as many ways to make my life a living hell as possible!?" she asked, feeling all the built up anger start to rise to the surface. "What the hell are you playing at, Malfoy?"

AN sry its so short! and it took me forever to get it up... ive had a really busy weekend. i went to pki!!! YAY and then the country stampede YEEHAW... sry :) this will be the last chap i post for at least two weeks SRY im goin to alaska with lizziegurl15! i'll try to write some more but i cant promise anything. ---- pleez review and tell me what u really think bout my story. THX so much for all the reviews they really mean alot to me! Should i change the rating because of the mild rape scene above? i don't think ill ever get more graphic than that so if ya don't like it don't worry... i don't really like writin it so it prob won't show up to often... at least not in that sense ;) Pleez tell me if i need to change the rating! THX

moseysdragon