Disclaimer: As much as I would love to own the Harry Potter characters, I don't. Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Pairings: Harry/Draco (seriously, if you cant deal then don't read), maybe Hermione/Ron?

Warnings: SLASH! Also, the rating will be high incase I decide to use some...very physical...contact! lol! Maybe not even very, but better safe then sorry right?

LustAintLove: Ahhh, chapter 4 is complete. This is the end result hope you enjoy! Nice, sweet, conflict! Anywho, please R&R! I'm on a total 'confidence high' after reading the reviews. You're all so GREAT! Let the story begin…or continue or however you see it.

Don't Touch

by: LustAintLove

Chapter 4

One thing you should always be careful of is getting a seriously emotional friend worried about you. Hermione would be the one I am referring to. I wished so badly to rewind the day so as to avoid ever injuring myself. The second Ron had informed her of the incident in Potions, she rushed to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey had just finished cleaning the wound and was about to seal it with a spell when Hermione burst into the room. The sudden noise didn't just catch me by surprise, but the dear mediwitch had jumped nearly five feet in the air. This was followed by a few muttered swears directed toward the frantic bushy haired girl. I almost laughed at her overreaction, but settled with a small smile.

"Is it serious. Are you okay?" Hermione was at my side within seconds. I glanced at Ron who looked out of breath, and he shrugged at me.

"He's fine Miss Granger." Madam Pomfrey gave Hermione a reassuring glance. "And I will remind you that this is an infirmary. I swear you aged me ten years just then." She shook her head with disapproval, pointed her wand at my arm, and muttered the healing spell. A warm tingle surrounded the cut and the separated flesh began to fuse back together.

"You may go now Mr. Potter." She turned to another student who entered not long after me. His face was covered in huge, obviously unattractive, red blotches.

"Lunch just started." Ron told me as I stood up, though even he knew I wouldn't eat much. We walked out into the hall and made way toward the Great Hall.

"Let me see it." Hermione motioned toward my arm. I held it out and frowned while looking at the small silver scar. "What's wrong?" I looked into my friend's worried face and shivered as I answered.

"She touched me." Both Hermione and Ron burst into fitful laughter. I watched the two of them and scowled. "What's so funny?" I honestly didn't get it.

"Nothing mate. Lets…get…to lunch." Ron answered between laughs. I couldn't help but give a slight smile at the sight of them looking so happy. It was rare. Lately they seemed to only focus on me and not really care about having fun. It didn't last long though. Hermione began asking a series of questions about my arm and even Ron began to question me.

"Did Malfoy do it?" he asked seriously. I frowned and shook my head. "Did he say or do anything to you on the way to the hospital wing?" He glowered while asking this question. Again I shook my head. What he had done was not meant to upset me. "If he did Harry…" I stopped walking and smiled at Ron.

"Really, he didn't do anything. I'm fine. The whole arm thing was my fault." He seemed pleased with my answer and refrained from asking anymore questions. Sadly, that only gave Hermione time to slip in a few more questions about my arm.

On entering the great hall, I felt many eyes watching my arrival and tried desperately to ignore them

"Hey Harry, feeling better?" Seamus, who was also in my Potions class, asked with a smile. I gave him a nod and turned my attention to Hermione who was in the process of filling my plate. I winkled my nose at the sight and began to argue.

"Oh Harry, don't spoil Mione's fun. Let her play mummy." This got a few laughs from the surrounding students, but Hermione only glared at Ron before tending to her own plate.

"If that's what you call fun." She hadn't meant for me to hear, but I did. Her words were mixed with sadness, which Ron didn't miss, and she looked to be holding back tears. In a weak attempt to cheer her up, I took a small bite of what looked like chicken. Though, she either didn't see it, or knew that a bite meant nothing compared to the amount I should have been eating.

As much as I tried, I could barely choke down the sixth bite. This was good enough in my book and, setting the fork aside, I looked at Hermione. To my discomfort, she had already been watching me.

"Um…what happened with your schedule?" I asked trying to make her stop looking at me like that. It was a mix of worry and anger. I assumed the anger came from my decision to stop eating.

"Yeah Mione, where'd you go running off to?" Ron asked curiously. Her eyes narrowed at the thought and she shrugged.

"I just wanted to get out of Divination. Professor McGonagall changed my schedule back to normal but wouldn't give me Potions with you guys. Something about it being out of her control." She forked through her food before looking back at me. "Is that really all your going to eat Harry?" Her look made me feel a pang of guilt and, at a loss for words, I averted my eyes from her accusing gaze. Seeing my reaction, she let her fork fall onto her plait with a loud clatter, and stood up to leave. Many eyes, including my own, followed her receding form. A way to make me feel even more guilty.

"Don't worry Harry. She's just not had a good day. I'm sure she'll be better by tonight." Ron told me with a smile. I ignored him though. This wasn't the first time Hermione got angry over me not eating. I knew it wasn't just a bad day that had her upset.

As a way to pass time, I let my eyes wander around the hall. Though, they seemed to seek out only one person. He wasn't there. Instead, his usual spot was empty and I found myself being watched by Pansy and some other boy with brown hair. They had been laughing and whispering, but when seeing my eyes on them, they smiled. Pansy, in a very mocking manner, waved at me. Her sharp features twisted with amusement and I felt my breath catch. A cool shiver ran through my spine and I turned to Ron.

"Can we leave?" I asked not wanting to go alone. Ron looked longingly at the pie on his plate and, with great reluctance, nodded. He hurriedly shoved a quick bite into his mouth and stood. I got up and glanced once more at the suspicious couple, who's eyes followed my every move, and began to follow Ron.

It was after turning down the hall, in the direction of the Gryffindor common room, that I heard footsteps not far behind us. Seeing as though it was lunch and you were bound to come across students in these halls, Ron gave no notice. I, on the other hand, didn't like the feeling of being followed. My pace quickened and Ron grunted.

"Why the rush Potter?" I froze at the bitter tone Pansy's voice had taken. Hesitantly and unable to hide my fear, I turned around. The two Slytherins stood only ten feet away. So then, I wasn't just imagining things huh?

"Sod off." Ron growled at them crossly. They chuckled mischievously, grins reaching their ears, and ignored him, keeping their eyes glued on me. I swallowed hard and silently begged for them to just walk away. The much more intelligent part of me laughed. It wasn't hard to see they had a reason for being here

"Well Potter? Why are you in such a hurry?" It was the brunette who spoke. He smiled at my silent reply. "Are we scared now Potter? Funny how easy it is to read your emotions huh?" I didn't reply.

"Did you hear me?" Ron took a few steps toward the other boy but they continued to act as if he weren't there. Nothing about the gangly redhead seemed to pose a threat toward them.

"Is it true Potter? Has Gryffindor's 'Golden-Boy' finally lost it?" Pansy chuckled once more. I just stared. A part of me was searching and pleading for a witty response. Anything to get rid of them. But my mouth refused.

"Well Pansy, I'm getting a bit bored. Seems he can't even talk now." It was the boy who spoke this time. At his words I felt relief rush through me. My belief was that they would leave now. It was only after hearing Pansy's reply that my whole body stiffened.

"Me too Blaise. How bout we play a little game. Let's see who can make Potter cry first." She didn't laugh this time. She didn't even smile. Her eyes narrowed and an unreadable emotion took the place of her previous joy. I saw Blaise, the brunette, smile ecstatically at the idea.

"Come on Harry!" Ron was about to pull me away but saw me flinch as he reached forward. My body wouldn't move though. No matter how many times I told myself to walk away, I just couldn't move.

"Seems he even likes the idea." Blaise spoke to Ron this time. Even Ron didn't know what to do. He looked at me a few times. In the end, he took to staring at the other two.

"Hmm…where should I start? Maybe with the death of….his parents. Does that make you cry Potter? I seem to recall hearing that you cry every night when thinking of them. Is that true? Do you cry when you think of their death. Of how Voldemort killed them? They died protecting you right? Just think. If you were never born then they might still be alive." Pansy frowned as she received no tear from me. It hurt, yes, but I had resolved that conflict long ago. Enough tears had been shed over the topic.

"Pathetic Pansy. I thought you smarter then that. Listen and learn." Blaise gave Pansy a teasing smile and turned to me. "When was it that you first started getting all depressed? Was it Cedric's death? Oh, who cares. I remember rumors about you though. What were they again? Ahh, something about you killing Cedric. That must be true. He was with your girlfriend right? That Chang girl. Yeah. Well, even if you didn't kill him, I'm sure you're the cause. You say it was Voldemort who killed him. What purpose would he have? He must have killed poor little Cedric because he was in the way. Either way, you were Voldemort's target huh? He had to die. All because of you." That hit a soft spot. Still, I didn't cry.

"Harry!" I glanced at Ron. "Come on!" He began to walk away. Though tempted, a deep laugh from Blaise caught my attention again.

"Guess it's your turn Pansy." He scowled at me and waited for her to take a shot.

"Ahh, lets see. The most resent death was that werewolf right? Let's try that one. Professor Lupin. He wasn't half bad. I really think you should stop making friends though. More so, you should stop associating with people period. If it weren't for you, the poor man would still be alive." She didn't know the many details, but worked well with what she had. "As if being werewolf isn't bad enough, you had to involve yourself with him." A deep, quiet breath from me. "Next it will be that mudblood, seeing as though no real wizard takes kindly to a muggle born." At the thought of Hermione dying, a few tears began to form behind my eyes. "Then the Weasley family. They're a disgrace to the whole wizarding community." The urge to scream, or cry, or hit, or fuss, or anything, was so strong I had to take another deep breath. "Everyone you love seems to die." The words seemed to drive so deep that a sharp pain shot through my entire body. It hurt to know I was the cause of so many deaths. So much pain. So many to come. Even as they didn't mention him, Sirius was also running through my mind. I was his end too. Hermione and Ron only had so long to wait before Voldemort got to them. I couldn't let that happen.

"So close wasn't I?" Pansy pouted to Blaise. Ron had stopped arguing when he heard her mention his own family. No doubt he was thinking on their wellbeing.

"Yes, so close. But you didn't actually think you'd win did you?" There was nothing to laugh about, but Blaise did. His laugh was cruel. Heartless. "What's left? Seems you got to him Pansy." Blaise had sounded disappointed at this, but he recovered quickly and his eyes flashed with excitement. "I know exactly what will break the 'boy wonder'. After all, he's supposed to save the world. Poor Potter can't even do that though, can he? You're frightened of something as simple as a ghost. You don't eat. You don't like to be touched. Who knows what else is wrong with you! How can someone as weak as you save your friends? Save the one's who look up to you? You can't. It's as simple as that. You're no hero. You'll sit and watch those around you die. You'll regret ever going against the Dark Lord." Somewhere in the middle of his speech, Ron regained control of himself and instead of taking a threatening step, he ran, full force, at Blaise. The sound of his fist smashing against the other bigger boy's jaw was enough to make me cringe. It wasn't but a second later that I heard Blaise recoil and punch Ron in the gut. I closed my eyes just in time to hear Ron's loud grunt.

Pansy's laughter could be heard in the background. She was coming closer and closer to the spot where I stood. I felt her breath brush against my ear as she hissed words that mixed with the painful sounds emitted from Ron as more blows were thrown at him.

"Let me see you cry Potter. You know you want to. All you can do is look away when one of you closest friends is getting beaten. You're weak. Show me a tear." A rough hand gripped my chin and, with no success, I tried to pull away. They got what they wanted. My attempt at not crying was too difficult. I began to sob, eyes closed and trembling. I welcomed my sobs though. I didn't want to hear Ron. I didn't want to hear Pansy. I just wanted it all to end. I wanted so badly to be strong.

Hermione's POV

That it not how the Hermione Granger I know would have handled a problem. I thought scornfully while making my way down the hall. By now, my emotions were a mix of anger, and sadness. My initial plan had been to go to the library, but finding myself walking a few feet behind the figure of one Draco Malfoy, interrupted that plan. I scowled at the back of his blond head and balled my fists. The mere sight of him exposed a much more cynical side of me.

"You!" I hissed just loud enough for him to hear. He stopped midstep and turned to face me with one swift move; an eyebrow arched quizzically.

"Yes Granger, it's me. Malfoy." He drawled looking weary. I wanted so badly to smack him. He was one of the many things I knew had affected Harry in such a negative way. He was guilty of taking part in breaking one of my closest friends. And this made me furious.

"It's your fault. You did it. Like losing everything he loved wasn't bad enough, he had to deal with you nagging him. Spreading lies. Making his life a living hell. I swear Draco Malfoy, you are going to suffer deeper then even Harry has." I didn't fight the tears. I couldn't fight them. I felt hopeless when trying to help Harry. I wanted everything to go back to normal. I wanted to see Harry laugh. I wanted to see him smile, eat, joke, anything, as long as it was normal. And I blamed Draco for making him grieve so much. Making him feel such strong pain and agony. Even if all the blame was not his.

Draco was taken aback with my sudden outburst. He glanced at a few first years who were watching the confrontation, before looking at me again. There was a tinge of anger in his eyes when he finally responded.

"Not the time or place Granger." He stated, turning to leave.

"Not the time? Well Malfoy, mind telling me what time would work for you? Maybe after Harry starves himself to death?" I spat, pausing when he stopped walking. "I could care less if you have the time or not, but I am not finished with you. I want you to know what it's like to watch your best friend grow weaker and weaker everyday." It sounded more like I was trying to confide in someone. I couldn't finish though. I hadn't told anyone how I was handling the situation and I wasn't about to start with Draco Malfoy. Tears were still sliding down my cheeks as I waited for the coward to speak. "Isn't this what you've been waiting for Malfoy? Haven't you been waiting to see Harry at his lowest? Go on, boast! Tell me how wonderful it feels. Tell me what it's like to have all the hard work pay off! Tell me!" I was in hysterics. Screaming, sobbing, and crying all at once.

"I have nothing to boast about." Draco turned around, eyes as cold as ever, and observed my pitiful form. I imagined he saw me as some psychotic female screaming nonsense words.

"That's all?" I asked feeling even more bitter toward him. "I expected more of you. Don't tell me that all those years of torture were for nothing!" He continued watching me. A faint flicker in his stormy grey eyes was his only reply and an unreadable expression grew over his normally leering features. My patience had run out and, feeding off all my, then current, emotions, I drew my wand. He didn't even flinch at the sight of it pointing so viciously near his chest.

"You heartless coward. You insufferable git. You….." I was shooting out whatever insults came to me.

"If I were you Granger, I'd stop there." He hissed scathingly. For some reason, that quieted me. Maybe it was the somewhat hurt look his eyes held, or the severe tone his voice took. I couldn't honestly say, but I was glad he shut me up when I heard the familiar yell of Ron. I loosened the strangling hold I had on my wand and turned toward the disturbance. It was coming from the hall I had just been walking down. I felt my heart beat quicken and rushed, hurriedly, toward Ron's voice. I turned the corner just in time to see Ron lunge toward Blaise Zabini, a Slytherin. I gasped as his fist made contact with the other boys jaw, and began to rush forward. Though, the harsh laughter of Pansy stopped me in my tracks. I hadn't noticed Harry standing there until Pansy began to advance on him.

"Let me see you cry Potter. You know you want to. All you can do is look away when one of you closest friends is getting beaten. You're weak. Show me a tear." Her savage smile and spiteful words caused an uncontrollable rage to rush through my body. Seeing as though I had my wand, and I was in the very mood to use it, I aimed it right at the girl. As soon as I did this, she clasped Harry's chin within her claw like fingers with a widening grin. He tried to pull away, but her grasp didn't falter.

"Don't touch him you hag!" I screamed manically before yelling the first hex that came to mind.

"Furnunculus!" She had only enough time to glance at me before the spell hit her. A loud, near inhumane, shriek echoed through the halls as her smooth skin became distorted with boils. Eyes wide and wand at the ready, she released Harry and swung toward me. Her hand trembled with fury and I could see tears running along her swollen cheeks. Serves you right! Was my first thought, but then realization hit me. First off, I probably just earned myself another weeks worth of detention, and second, Pansy's wand was aimed straight at me. Before even a word was spoken, a disgruntled voice sounded from behind me.

"Expelliarmus!" The two of us were instantly unarmed and confused. My curiosity as to who had disarmed us, was quickly dissolved when Pansy began to shriek once again, this time using words.

"Draco? I could have cursed the filthy little mudblood! Look what she's done to me!" Her screaming stopped most everyone in there tracks, including Ron and Zabini, but not Draco. He strolled, dignifiedly, into the very center of, what had been, the raging chaos. A deep, disappointed frown was aimed toward the two Slytherins as he looked for words to explain himself.

"You call this fun?" He didn't look angry, but shocked. I was, of course, more confused then ever. Malfoy looked to be dissatisfied with the one thing I'd have thought he'd love. The heartless torture of Harry Potter, and the brutal beating of a Weasley. Draco glanced at his two friends, but didn't continue. I guessed that he believed they'd get the point seeing as though neither of the two were in good shape, one covered in boils, and the other with a bloodied nose, which ultimately leads to no fun.

Draco shook his head, and glanced at Harry, whom was currently huddled against a wall watching, through tear draped lashes, the new situation unfold. I could have sworn a flash of sympathy shone through his stormy grey eyes, but this was masked quickly with his usual cold stare. The next moment, he had turned toward me, and with a hostile glare, he held my wand out. I fixed a stern gaze toward his hand and, timidly, snatched it up.

"What about mine?" Pansy whined. Draco began to walk away.

"I'm not a bloody idiot Pansy! The moment I give this back to you, there will be curses flying off the walls. I don't know about you, but I'd rather settle with Granger getting detention then risk getting it yourself." He glanced back at her with a frown. "Now, are you coming or shall you wait to see the staffs reaction upon getting word of this……madness?" He looked expectantly upon his friends and waited.

"Come on Pansy, we'll settle this some other time. I believe this is the perfect moment to pay our head of house a little visit. Sure we can lose them a good number of points and earn at least one of them a detention." Blaise shot a malevolent look towards Ron before taking step beside Draco.

"Wait, but I need to go to the hospital wing!" Pansy pouted and ran after the two boys. Blaise answered by muttering something along the lines of 'We need Snape to see you first.' before the group rounded a corner.

"Harry?" I looked to the tear stained boy and felt my own eyes water. "She was wrong Harry. You're not weak. Don't listen to that Slytherin trash." As if to avoid scaring him, I took slow and steady steps while approaching. Like you would a frightened animal. He had already stopped crying, but he looked so small and upset.

"They're sick Harry." Ron was a few steps behind me. His nose was definitely broken, his left eye was bruised, his lip was busted and bleeding, and I imagined he had also lost a tooth.

"I think you should take yourself to the hospital wing." I tried not to look horrified by the sight of him so beat up, and took a mental note never to let Ron get into fights. Really, it hadn't even lasted that long and he was in the worst shape ever.

"I'm not leaving!" He acted as if I had affronted him in the worst possible way. "Once we get Harry to the Gryffindor common room, I will go, but no sooner." He added the last part after seeing the grim look I shot him. I gave a slight nod and turned back to Harry. He was wiping his eyes with the sleeves of his robe. I smiled at the cute childlike image he gave off, but let it slip when he finally straightened up and began walking toward the Gryffindor tower. I couldn't blame him. Even I wouldn't have wanted to talk about it.

"We're skipping classes today." I couldn't help but smile at the look Ron made in response to my very unexpected statement. Of course it wasn't very Hermione-like of me, but what else could I say? Harry definitely needed someone to be with him, and I wanted to be that person. Another day of detention meant nothing at the moment. After all, I could, before the year ended, pull my act together. It would be easy, if only Harry was to get better. Plus, our next class was Transfiguration, which was shared with Slytherins. I definitely couldn't deal with that at the moment.

LustAintLove: Hello readers, I will now proceed with many apologies to those who wanted Draco's POV. It would have just gotten annoying! Three different POVs basically about the same thing. Do not fear, I will make clear his feeling in the next chapter….okay not clear, just his feelings on the situations. And worry not, the two enemies shall be together soon (maybe a little something in the next chap, can't really say!), if I plot that out right. Anyways….on to the replies.

Review reply:

Kaiya002love: Haha, thanks a bunch. I really wasn't too happy with my last chapter, but seeing as though there were no negative reviews, I feel much better. As I have said to others, I will try to update and post as quickly as time will allow, and since it's summer, I believe that may be often! Thanks much!

Fifespice: It means nothing at all my little friend. Snape is evil and since Harry didn't look as scared with the idea of partnering with a Slytherin as the other students did, he decided to partner Harry with Malfoy! But of course, Snape won't be terribly horrible, he knows that Harry's all messed up. Just not as sympathetic as others. Excluding Blaise and Pansy of course. I will try to slip Dumbledore in there so it's not just Hermione and Ron trying to help him, but in the end, Draco is the one to help Harry. Thanks for the review!

Drays girl: Thanks! I didn't mean to make the part with Blaise and Pansy funny, but hey, I guess that's cool! I doubt you think they are funny anymore. That is where I had been leading towards the end of chapter three. They are evil little plotters huh? Anywho, I don't know exactly when Harry will get better, but that will be a working progress. You don't just wake up one morning feeling all happy and fresh after being in a state such as Harry is in. And my reply on the fluff, yes, there probably will be. Thanks for the review.

Chaeli.meep.: First off, I must say, whether I am pronouncing your pen name correctly or not, it's so cute (hehe…um…maybe its just the meep part! hehe). Anyway, ignore that and lets get to the reply! Thanks for, yet another, very enthusiastic review! I will update as soon as possible. Much thankies!

Ceremonially-unclean: Great, now I know who you are and I shall repeat my last reply! I appreciate your review and will forever remember you as person :), (aka ceremonially-unclean) the first to review my very first fanfic and chapter. YEAH, you ROCK! Okay, calm down! Anywho, thanks for the sweet sweet review! I can say that your review was definitely one to put me on my present 'confidence high'! And that's awesome that you put my story to your favs list! Much appreciation toward you and hope you like this chapter!

HatefulSoul: Thank you very much. You are the second to praise me, which obviously pleases me to no end (in a happy way okay!) And that's just too nice of you to say my writing is amazing, 'reflects for a moment'. Yes, it is very nice of you! Thanks for the review! Much appreciated.

Nixie02: Short and sweet! Thanks a lot for the review! With every review I get, I want to write more and more! Thanks a bunch and hope you continue to enjoy my story!