Reviewers:

NikolaosDhampir: Well i think you'll just have to keep on reading to know that. THANKS!

Crazy4Cocopuffs: Wow! Stuck between three choices, (according to you) poor Hermione, just keep reading i'm very glad you reviewed! THANKS!

Oro4: Hello faithful Oro4! Flame!I know you'll keep reading even if I suck. THANK YOU SO MUCH!...Ahem...still waiting for third chap! LOL! Update soon!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Chapter 12:The Devil Isn't Himself?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Hermione ran, crying, and damned her legs, for not running faster, she was about to get out of this goddamn Forest when something closed in on her. She tried to break free, but Draco held her tight.

Oh no, it can't be him, not now...

Again she tried to break free, she was struggling and crying harder and faster than ever. She really didn't want him to see her like that...She could see it now, Malfoy gloating over her misery...She highly suspected that he would tell all the Slytherins and they would all make her life living hell.

Slowly, as she grew tired of struggling, he took her and held her closely, Hermione didn't even mind that it was Malfoy. In fact, she hardly realized.

Malfoy was leading her into the Forest, deeper in...she didn't notice it, but stared at her feet, as he gently coaxed her in.

Soon all that was heard were her occasional sniffs. Draco patiently waited for her to finish her crying. He motioned her to sit on a tree stump, while he sat on a large log.

Hermione looked at her feet, vaguely hoping that the wind rustles would just go away. Everything was sinking in. Her beloved Harry had betrayed her, and it seemed impossible to forget it, in fact she was sure it was impossible to forget.

"Gran – Hermione..." he hesitated for a bit, it seemed. He cleared his throat slightly, and went on not exactly knowing what to say, "Hermione, I know it was awful to see that back there, but better to open your eyes now than later." Wow, was he making her feel better...

Hermione looked at him, tear stricken, bowed her head once more, and weakly shook her head once.

Draco felt a pang in his heart...did he have a heart?...Of course, otherwise he wouldn't 'love' Hermione. But did he really love her as much as he thought?

"Hermione, look at me," Hermione lifted her face up to meet his icy greys and Draco had the urge to look away, but didn't. The look in her eyes gave him another pang, and he didn't like it at all. It sunk in him that it was his and Cho's fault that Hermione and Harry were in this situation. This was supposed to work out to their benefit, then why didn't it feel like it?

Well actually, analyzing this a bit further, it was not just his and Cho's fault, it was also Potter's. No one told him to fuck Cho, but he did anyway. Hermione was the only innocent one here. She really didn't deserve so much pain. Draco was sure she would much rather have the Cruciatus performed on her for hours before believing or seeing Harry and Cho together that way.

"You don't know how I feel Malfoy." She said slowly as she looked in his eyes. It made Draco feel like she was reading his soul. This time he did look away. "Don't even try to...Just go look for the roots." Her voice seemed to have no life left in it, none of the usual conviction she had was found. The conviction that held Draco in a trance whenever he'd hear her voice. It was all gone.

Suddenly more tears went down her face. Draco took her in his arms and patted her back softly. Hermione suddenly laughed. It took Draco by surprise, he let go of her and looked at her.

"Sorry Malfoy...I half expected you to laugh at me, at what happened...I expected you to gloat about it, forever. I seem to be wrong," she whispered, looking at him in the eyes.

Draco grinned and decided that it was now or never. "I couldn't make fun of you, not even now...You know why?" He didn't wait for an answer, "Hermione, you've changed. I somehow see it..." Damn! He hesitated in saying what he meant, and said nothing more.

"I can't believe it...what I saw, I never would of thought it...at all..." Her voice killed his heart, it was painful to hear it so empty.

All of a sudden there was rain pouring down. It looks like it wanted to visit once more. Powerful rain and wind, great, all she needed. It certainly reflected how she felt. She put her head down once more.

"We should go back, I'll come back and look for the roots some other day," said Draco, as he got up from the log. Hermione lifted her head up and looked at him. He stretched out his hand motioning for Hermione to take it. She looked at it for a few moments, then decided to take it.

"Bloody rain," she muttered under her breath. Malfoy looked at her; his expression was almost sad.

The rain was soaking her hair and robes. They pasted to her skin. It was an uncomfortable feeling. How the hell did all this come to be!...

"Malfoy, please understand, that I don't want to go back to Gryffindor Tower for now." They both stopped in their tracks and Hermione went on, "can we just go find the roots right now, I don't care that it's raining." She added as an afterthought. Draco looked at her, not really believing she would want to do this right now.

"What ever floats your boat," he muttered.

They walked around the Forest, not too deep in, and looked for the roots. They were both extremely wet. Draco would shake his head, to make sure that the water wouldn't paste his hair down on his scalp. Hermione didn't care, she went on. They both lit their wands when it was getting slightly darker.

"Hey Hermione! I found a patch, come over here!" Draco said loudly so she would here him.

"Great," Hermione said apathetically. Draco showed her the roots and as Hermione was bending down to fetch them, he roughly pulled her from the robes and pushed her down to the floor.

"Are you stupid or what Granger!" Hermione instantly got up and stared at him indignantly. "These are Avastrus flowers Hermione, hence 'the poisoned flower.'"

Shit! She had somehow forgotten that extremely important tidbit. Her mind somehow shunned it out. Where is your head!...Don't think about that...

"You touch these with your bare hands, and they'll have to be amputated immediately if you don't want to die." And somehow, Hermione without arms, would not be needed.

"Sorry," she sighed, meanwhile Draco had taken out his dragon hide gloves. Hermione could tell that they had been very expensive. Malfoy bent over and removed a single root from the small flower patch.

"There that's all we need." He put the silvery root in a small glass jar, and put it in his robe pocket. He then carefully removed his gloves and placed them on the opposite pocket of his robes as well.

After that they headed towards Hogwarts. When they were almost out of the Forest Hermione stopped abruptly and turned to Draco, and she flung her arms around him, vaguely thinking that that was most unlike her. What if he hexed her right then and there? Point was, she didn't care. She wanted to thank him for holding her earlier and not making fun of her and what happened.

"Draco, thank you..." She sniffed and let go of him. Draco was shocked at her act, but didn't quite show it. And as they locked eyes he felt a strange, unfamiliar warmth heat his coldness, they melted his eyes from the usual iciness to something different, something he knew he shouldn't be, something he should not let happen. But then right there, he did the only thing that seemed right, he planted his lips over hers. He straddled her with his arms. Wrapping her waist and back against him. Feeling her warm lithe body so close to him. She squirmed under him and was trying to move her arms, but he held her tightly. He didn't care he was being rough, he just wanted to feel her intensity. But Hermione kept on fighting, and coming back to reality Draco let go of her. She was breathing rapidly and her eyes were bright and watery. She wiped her mouth with her hand.

She stood there, her eyes boring into his. He couldn't stand the deafening silence, and in a low hearty voice he uttered two words he had never said before, to anyone, "I'm sorry." With that he turned around and left without a fleeting look back.

Hermione stood there shocked at first...oh my God...

It was well over midnight now. She stood there for a few minutes, thinking all the weird (to say the least) things that had happened in an evening: She had gone into the Forbidden Forest with Malfoy, she had caught Harry and Cho red-handed, she almost lost her arms with the poisoned flowers, Malfoy had actually been nice, and to top it off, he wasn't just nice to her, he kissed her too...

What has gotten into you Malfoy!...He argued with himself, as he ran down the dungeon corridors... I need to think...He had ran away from Hermione like a bloody coward. Said words that no Malfoy should ever say. And he didn't say 'sorry' to just anybody, he said it to a mudblood...But was she just a mudblood now? He didn't think so.

Without realizing it, he came to be in front of the portrait of his Great Uncle. He muttered the password and entered the Malfoy Room.

I need to think...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
REVIEW!