Crimson Rain Drops

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I only own the plot and the characters that obviously aren't in the books

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Cold as Ice

Hard as Stone

Both believe

They must face this world alone

What happens

When Enemies Meet

All they share; a love of hate

But what they find; they do not seek

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Previously:

Hermione glared at him before standing up and turning to walk away when she heard two all to familiar voices.

"I told her that we would meet her here" Harry insisted.

"I understand that but are you sure you gave her the right date?" Ron questioned.

"Yes Ron, yes. I promise you I did. I've written so many times and I never got a reply.

And if I'm right, you never got one either"

Hermione stood frozen on the spot. She would've moved but she was afraid that it would draw attention to her. That they would see her.

She had to come up with a story to tell them by the time vacation ended. Something that they would believe.

Finally the voices started to move away until they were completely gone and she heard the bells on the door jingle signalling that they left.

"O my god. That was way to close. Now what to tell them" Hermione started muttering to herself.

"You know Granger, that really cant be healthy. Talking to yourself" Draco smirked at her.

"Fuck off Malfoy, I cant deal with you today" Hermione snapped.

"I'm wounded Granger" Draco responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Just go to hell Malfoy"

"Been there done that"

"Whatever" Hermione breathed. She pushed past him, got what she needed and left.

Walking out of Diagon Alley, she looked all around her making sure that Harry and Ron were nowhere in sight.

Draco stood in the store for a few minutes, stunned at the girl that had just left. She had developed a back bone. A strong back bone. This was going to make his year fun. Lots of fun.

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Hermione looked around her. It was September first and she couldn't believe that she had made it again. She had made it through yet another summer of hell.

There were kids, new and old, saying good bye to their families one last time before boarding the train. Hermione glanced around right before boarding to see if she could see the Weasley's, but there was no red-hair to be seen. Probably late again, she thought.

She headed for the Head compartment. She was in high hopes of getting some sleep before the train arrived at the Hogsmeade station. She hadn't slept much over the past week, unless you counted passing out from pain.

She certainly wouldn't get that sharing a compartment with Harry and Ron. They would ask how her summer went, why she didn't reply to their letters, why she didn't meet them etc. and she really didn't feel like dealing with that today.

She found the compartment, thankfully empty. This meant that she could fix some of the cuts and cover up what was already set in stone. Then she could curl up and sleep with no disturbances.

Hermione pulled out her wand and started to cover-up her bruises and cuts. About 10 minutes later everything that could be done was done. She had left her arms for the time being because she was just to tired to finish it all. Anyway, she was wearing long sleeves so no one would ever notice.

She finally started to fall asleep. When she was between the real and dream realms, someone walked in and sat down. She never saw who and was sound asleep before she could open her mouth to ask.

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Draco looked at Hermione sound asleep in the seat across from his.

Just my luck, the mudblood's Head Girl. Should've known though, she's only top student with a near perfect record. Draco rolled his eyes and took a book out.

They rode like this for most of the trip. It wasn't until about 20 minutes before the end that Hermione started to stir. Draco looked up from his book, startled.

First thing he saw was Hermione's exposed arm. Cuts, bruises and all. He looked up at her face to see her coming back into reality.

He buried himself back in the book, as if he had never seen anything, but one would've seen a glitter of amazement in his eyes if you had looked. Just a glitter though. Grangers not perfect kept running through his head.

Hermione finally dragged herself out of her slumber and back into the world she wanted so desperately to escape from. She glanced up to see Malfoy sitting there.

What the hell? He wasn't there when I came in. She shook her head as a sudden dizzy spell came over her. These seemed to be hitting her more and more often as of late.

Finally it passed and she got her robe out of her bag and just threw it on over her clothes, not really feeling like getting up to change. Malfoy glanced up to see what the sudden movement was but then ducked back into his book, not really caring.

Hermione took out a book, and again silence filled the compartment until it rolled to a stop.

Hermione jumped up and grabbed her bag and took off, wanting to get off the train and fast. Just when she jumped out she heard her name.

"Mia!" She glanced around to see Eva (pronounced Ava) running towards her at full speed.

"Oh my god. I missed you so much" the girl squealed, pulling Hermione into a death grip.

Hermione winced at the contact; still a little tender but hugged back her friend. Eva was a seventh year Ravenclaw that Hermione had become very close with over the past couple of years.

She had blond hair that was pulled back in a high pony tail and hazel eyes to die for. She stood about 5"6', same height as Hermione. They had met in the library ironically. Hermione was trying to get as far away from Harry and Ron as she could and it was too cold and late to go outside. Eva had been in there studying and some how they had started talking. They'd been friends ever since.

Hermione let go only to find herself pulled into another hug. This one was way worse, and Hermione knew that she would be in pain tonight but she couldn't be happier when she saw who it was. It was Eva's twin brother, Luke.

Sure he was a Slytherin, but he wasn't like the rest. Well, not exactly like the rest. He had the cunning and sly part down perfect, just the predacious part. He couldn't care less that Hermione wasn't a pure blood. His only real down fall was that he was friends with Malfoy, but she could look past that.

As much as she loved Harry and Ron, they would never understand her the way that Eva and Luke did. Luke and Eva would listen to her and they would give her good advice. They never asked for help with work and made Hermione feel perfectly safe.

Harry and Ron seemed to only really talk to her when they needed help or advice. She would never leave them but she needed help and advice sometimes too. She needed to know that she was loved.

They walked to the carriages, arms linked together. Hermione sighed as she remembered that she had to ride in the Head carriage. She said her good byes, and promised to meet them later that night, after finding out where her new rooms were.

She watched out the window and waited for Malfoy to get there so that she could get to the castle and spend as little time as possible in his presence. Finally he entered, though he looked in deep thought.

Draco looked at Hermione, only to see that her eyes were closed and her head tilted back. He couldn't believe that prefect Granger wasn't perfect. She had as many problems as he did, or it looked like she did.

Perfect. An opportunity for blackmail, he thought as an evil grin passed over his face.

As the carriage started to roll to a stop Hermione looked up to see Malfoy starring at her.

"Yes?" she asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Nothing Mudblood"

"Whatever Malfoy. I don't want to deal with your shit right now" she muttered as she went to jump out.

"Hermione!" Hermione whirled around to see Harry and Ron running towards her.

"Hey you guys" she smiled as they pulled her into a hug. Thankfully, this was just a loose one, a form of saying hi. She glanced over Harry's shoulder and saw Eva passing by with Luke, chuckling.

"I'll meet you later" she mouthed to them before sticking out her tongue in a childish retaliation.

Finally, they made it into the Great Hall, where all the questioning started. While most people would take a hint, they just didn't seem to pick up on it.

"God, Malfoy's more perceptive that this" she grumbled.

"What was that?" Ron asked.

"Nothing, nothing" she responded, getting annoyed.

"Hermione, seriously, what happened to you this summer?" Harry asked for what must have been the eighth time.

"I was busy alright? Is that good enough for you?" she snapped at him.

Harry looked rather taken aback by her tone. "Sorry. God, didn't mean to offend you, your highness"

"Look Harry, I'm sorry. I just didn't sleep well last night ok? I honestly didn't mean to snap, just please stop with the questions tonight"

"Alright, but you have some major explaining to do. You didn't answer any of our letters or anything this summer, than you went and blew us off in Diagon Alley. I mean, we're just worried. The least you could've done was owled us. That would've been common courtesy, but no. Nothing."

"Harry, I got your god damn point alright! Jesus, don't you know when to lay off. Take the fucking hint! I don't want to talk about my summer right now. Just give it a rest"

Harry and Ron starred at Hermione wide-eyed and speechless. "Did I finally get through your thick heads?" Hermione growled at them. They nodded their heads, and quickly turned around to listen to Dumbledore start his speech.

Hermione survived through the rest of dinner, though conversation was very tense. All she wanted was to visit Eva and Luke and get back to her dorm for her prized possession. Her knife.

She craved the feeling of the cold steel against her skin like someone would crave a specific flavour of ice cream.

The sorting, speeches, announcement and presentation of Head Badges and dinner eventually ended. In all honesty, Hermione had never been happier to get away.

She met Dumbledore who led her and Malfoy to the Head common room. He explained how to make a password then left on some other business.

Draco looked up at Granger and saw that she was anxious to get away, and all he wanted was to go and get his alcohol for all the pain.

"Endless Pain?" he suggested.

"Yeah sure whatever"

She was gone the moment it was set, not even going in to look around. "Stupid bitch" Draco mumbled, walking in and heading right for his room. It really didn't bother him that she wasn't there; it meant he could get started so much faster.

Hermione rushed to meet Eva and Luke, wanting it to be over and done with. An hour later she walked back to her quarters (a/n: I think that's the right one) the craving even stronger than before.

When she walked in she saw Malfoy on the couch, but didn't notice anything else, just wanting to get her blade. Finally, she felt the pressure and her pain began to leave. She didn't care about physical pain, she was used to that.

Three slits later, she walked out of her room and into the bathroom. She grabbed a cloth and wet it, applying pressure to the bleeding wounds. Exiting, she saw that Malfoy had something in his hand.

She stepped closer, and saw that it was a bottle of vodka. So that's why he's so far gone. That's a really good idea, I sure could use some of that right now.

"Malfoy"

"What do you want Granger?" he growled, his head still leaned back, eyes closed.

"Any of that left?"

"You drink? The perfect Mudblood bitch drinks? Alert the press" he opened his eyes just enough, to make out her face.

"Shut the fuck up. I asked if you had any left"

"Yeah plenty"

"Can I have some?"

"What for? I mean, there has to be a reason. I can't see you drinking for nothing"

"Malfoy, just give me some" annoyance apparent in her voice.

"Fine, as long as you promise to shut up"

"Yeah yeah, just hand it over"

Draco, though reluctant, accio-ed another bottle and handed it to her. Though still curious as to why she wanted it, though at the moment, if it shut her up, he would do anything. He just wanted to finish his in peace.

Hermione opened the bottle and downed quite a bit of it. She crossed the room and sat on the other green couch. She looked around for the first time. There was a green and a red couch on each side of the room and two black arm chairs in front of the fire place. There were four doors. The one leading out, one with Hermione's name on it, one with Draco's name on it and one that led to the bathroom.

The walls were simple. Just the four house colours, though Hermione really wished that it was just Slytherins colours. They were darker than Gryffindors and they would be much easier on the eyes in the event of a hang-over.

Roughly two hours later, the two were still sitting in silence, both bottles lying on the floor, completely empty. Both could hold their liquor amazingly well, but they'd both been drinking a lot longer then the other would ever have guessed.

Around 2, Hermione got up and wandered to her room, collapsing on her bed. She made a quick mental note to change her room colours the next day, then passed out, this time though, it wasn't from pain. A nice change, it you asked him.

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Hey, I'm writing this late and not as depressed as usual, so it's not quite as good as the first, but I think you'll live. If you read my other fic, you would know that I can't stand Harry and Ron. Their annoying if you ask me. I got rid of them once, but I'm not decided on if I will again.

Well, I'll give warning now, that after next Monday I won't be updating a whole hell of a lot as I have midterms. But I promise to update when I can.

Pure Mudblood

Edited on August 23, 2005.