Crimson Rain Drops
Chapter 4
Disclaimer: I only own the plot and the characters that obviously aren't in the books
&&&&
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
&&&&
Previously:
He pulled out 5 bottles and handed three to Dallis to take out while he concealed his hiding spot again.
He came out and handed the last bottle to Eva, who had moved to Dallis's feet, her back propped up with his legs. They all opened they're bottles and took a drink, Hermione and Draco's considerably larger then the others.
They talked for hours, not realizing it. Finally, Dallis, Luke and Eva left, leaving Hermione and Draco on their own again. Only their bottles were finished, the other three had given what was left back to Draco, who would put it away for the next time they came.
"Malfoy, I hate to ask, but do you know any hang-over cures?"
"Yeah, as a matter of fact I do Granger, why do you want to know?"
"Because I honestly don't think I can deal with a head-ache the size of the one I had today. I mean, I've had them before, but never to that degree"
"I know what you mean. I had a killer one the first time I had this stuff too. But I'll show you the spell in the morning, alright?"
"Yeah, ok. Thanks"
They carried on a pretty civilized conversation until around 4, when Hermione finally dozed off on the couch. Draco, not wishing to know what she would be like if he woke her up, accio-ed a blanket and put it over her.
He then cleaned the bottles up and crawled under his forest green comforter. It amazed him that they had carried on a conversation like that, though h knew that it had something to do with all the alcohol in their systems. It would never last to the morning, or to later that morning anyway.
He still loathed her, always would. But somewhere, deep in the depths of his seemingly stone heart, he cared for her on some level, however miniscule that level may be.
The last thing that ran through his mind before falling into a deep slumber was Thank god tomorrow's Saturday.
&&&&&
Hermione rolled out of bed the next morning. Her head pounding yet again, but not quite as bad. She looked at the clock and cursed. It was one in the afternoon. Way to earlier to rise on a Saturday.
She walked out and right into the bathroom, turning the hot water on all the way. She climbed in and let the water cascade down her back and over her muscles. They were amazingly tense.
Finally she forced herself to get out and walked back to her room and changed. She grabbed black track pants, a black T-shirt and a black hooded sweatshirt with the words "You Don't Know Me" across the front in white letters. She reached in her trunk and grabbed her runners.
She hadn't been for a run for a while. She hadn't really exercised for a while. For the longest time it had been a form of relaxing escape from her double life.
She walked down the hallway towards the door leading into her sanctuary. Just as she was about to go outside, she heard her name. She turned to see Harry and Ron running towards her.
"Hermione, where the hell have you been?" Harry demanded the minute they reached her.
"Sleeping" Hermione replied simply.
"Hermione, it's almost 2 in the afternoon, and you seriously want us to believe you were sleeping?" Ron questioned.
"Yes I believe I do as I was actually sleeping" Hermione replied, her voice still calm. "I have yet to lie to you, so you have no reason to not believe me. But I guess it's your choice. Now if you would excuse me, I have something I need to do"
Without waiting for their answer she turned and ran. She ran for a good 40 minutes before stopping to conjure something to drink. Her calf muscles ached, but she knew better than to just stop.
Last time she had done that had been the first time she had run like this. She had been in a great amount of physical pain for the next several days.
She forced herself to stand up and go for a walk before she went to the gym that Dumbledore had set up the previous year. It had been a request from her and he had agreed. He hadn't had it open to everyone at first, only Hermione, Luke and Eva and the teachers but he later decided to change that.
Hermione had nicely toned muscles now. She could lift anywhere from 80-100 pounds with great ease and when putting effort into it, she could lift or throw anything that was under 230.
She made her way to the gym. There were a couple people in there. She recognized one seventh year Ravenclaw that she had classes with but that was about it.
She walked over to the high bar and did 20 chin ups before going over to the treadmill to run a little more. She had been in there about half an hour, when Eva walked in.
"Hey Mia" she smiled walking over to where Hermione was on the bench press.
Hermione sat up. "Hey Eva, spot for me?" she phrased it more as a statement than a question. She increased the weight before turning around again and lying on her back.
After 15 minutes and 160 punds of weight, she finally decided to take a break. She got off and they walked over to get some water and Hermione sat on the floor while Eva got on the treadmill.
"How long have you been in here?"
"How long have I been in here or how long have been exercising?"
"Exercising"
She glanced down at her watch "Just over an hour, and I only did a stunted routine" Hermione replied. "It would've been longer in here but Harry and Ron were bugging me this morning and I ran for longer than intended."
"What did they do now?"
"Nothing unusual, but whatever. I can handle them; just I got up early and didn't have a lot of patience for them. I'll deal with them later. I know that they must be freaking out by now"
Eva just shook her head knowing that her chances of getting the full truth weren't very high today. When Hermione got in moods like this, it was best to not push her. She would give you all the information that she felt like disclosing.
Honestly, if Hermione hadn't been Eva's best friend, they would've parted ways a long time ago. Your first impression of Hermione is a book worm who wears their heart on their sleeve. If you stuck around long enough though and actually paid attention to her, you got to see the real Hermione. Someone who loves to let loose and have her opinion be known. There was a wall there though that was seemingly impossible to break.
In fact, Eva could only remember a couple of times when Hermione had let that wall down around anyone. She knew that her friend was hiding something, but she also knew that there was no way to get it out of her. All she could do was sit and wait for Hermione to decide when the right time to tell was.
"Mia I have a meeting with a teacher in about 10 minutes. Why don't you meet me and Luke later? Same place and time as always?"
"Sure, just remember it's your turn"
"I know, I know. Later"
Hermione watched her friend leave. She hadn't moved much in the last 20 minutes, and she could feel her muscles tensing. Hermione's idea of a stunted routine was the average person's idea of a full one. Quite often she would work out for a good 4-5 hours at one time.
She got up and tossed her water bottle before leaving. She didn't feel like doing much more today. Not right now anyway. She could do any stretching in her room.
She walked slowly, not really caring how long it took her to reach her destination. She couldn't get Harry and Ron out of her head. Mia you have to tell them. Luke's voice echoed through every corner of her mind. She knew more than anyone that he was right.
They deserved to know. She just couldn't do it. She couldn't tell them to leave her alone. She couldn't tell them to leave and never come back. They had played to big of a part in her life for far too many years. Throwing that away would hurt too much.
She mumbled her password when she finally reached the dorm. She entered and was walking straight to her room when she noticed people talking.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Hermione asked, rather surprised.
"Hey to you too Mia" a smirk playing on Luke's lips.
Hermione playfully stuck her tongue out at her best friend. "Really, what are you doing here?"
"Aren't we allowed to visit fellow Slytherins?" Hermione turned to see Dallis sitting across from Luke.
"Well, duh but I don't exactly see him here. What did he finally get tired of the assholes he surrounds himself with and realize his life long dream of joining the circus?"
"Funny Granger. I always placed you as the one with the dream to join the circus" sarcasm dripping from Draco's voice as he walked out of his room.
Hermione just rolled her eyes and turned to her room so she could shower and stretch before meeting Eva that evening. She grabbed what she needed: her clothes, her towel and her CD player.
"Luke, help a friend?" she asked an eye brow raised.
He got up obligingly and put his hands on her back knowing exactly what she meant.
"Please you two. It's unsightly to do that in the presence of royalty" Draco drawled.
"Malfoy really! God dammit! I thought we made this clear last night, there's nothing going on between us" Hermione eyes flashed for a moment. The emotion was there and gone so fast that Draco had to do a double take to make sure that he had actually seen it.
He watched as Hermione started to lean back. Luke knew exactly where to place his hands so that he wasn't helping her stretch, just making sure she kept her balance.
Luke had taught Hermione how to stretch properly. Most of the time he would stretch with her, unless he was helping. They went through their routine. Stretch after stretch, perfectly in sync.
It amazed Draco. He had never seen Hermione this way. She seemed happy when surrounded by these people. But whenever she was around the wonder boys, she seemed so fake. But he didn't know which was the real her.
He had been doing more thinking about her then he should be, but he couldn't shake it. Couldn't get rid of the feeling that there was so much to this girl. So much that hadn't been seen by anyone.
"How long did you exercise for today Mia?" Luke questioned.
"Just over an hour, but I ran for somewhere in the neighbourhood of 40. I full out ran to. Not jogged, ran" Hermione answered.
"Jesus. You're going to have to slow down a little. You'll mess up your ankle if you don't. And as much as we love you, there is no way in hell that Eva and I are going through that again"
Hermione smacked him on the arm, the contact causing Luke's skin to sting.
"Hey what did I ever do to you?"
"Nothing" Hermione got up and headed for the shower, a small smile playing on her lips. She turned back at the door, to see Luke hand gotten up and was heading for the couch. "Oh, meeting tonight Luke. Same time and place as always. Dallis, you can come too, I'm sure Eva wouldn't mind in the least"
With that said, she closed the door, and moments later they heard the water running.
"What the hell was that about Laurthian?" Draco demanded.
"I was helping her stretch. I don't want her to get hurt again" Luke replied with a shrug.
"You know damn well that's not what I meant" Draco scowled at him. He didn't know why he wanted to know so badly. Maybe it was because Hermione had so obviously ignored him.
"Oh that? It's a thing that we do. We found a place to meet whenever; just have to make sure that everyone knows in advance. It was Mia's idea actually. She got sick of us having to chase each other between classes to set up a meeting spot. And it's even harder with her in all the advance classes now, "Luke finished, and turned to Dallis, "You coming Cade?"
"Yeah. I'll meet you tonight so you can show me the way"
"Alright. I'm going to take off" Luke got up and left though the portrait hole. Dallis not too far behind him.
Draco was absolutely fuming. He hated when people ignored him like this. They had no right. He held the highest spot in society in their year, and they dared to ignore him like that. He had never allowed it before and sure as hell wasn't going to now.
He heard the water stop running and minutes later saw Hermione walk out, fully clothed.
"Granger" he snarled.
"What?" Hermione snapped. She was not in the best of moods and just wanted to get out so she could get through the hell that was dinner.
"Where the hell do you get off being like that? You have no right to be that way with me you filthy Mudblood. No right. I'm a higher being than you, simple as that. I could own you if I wanted. If I really wanted you to, I could have you on your hands and knees licking the floor clean" he came closer to her with each word but she stood her ground. Bloody stupid of her if you asked him. She was up against a wall with nowhere to go. Finally, he got her completely cornered, trapped.
"Never call me a Mudblood" she glared at him. "You're the one that doesn't have the right to talk down to me. You'll never own me. You'll never have power over me. Never will I do anything for you"
"You wish Mudblood. If I want you to do something, you'll do it. I have power over you to make you do whatever I want you too. I can make you do anything. I can make you scream out of pain or pleasure. I can make you praise me on your hands and knees. Anything I want, I can make happen"
"In your dreams maybe Malfoy, but never in this reality. Never will I do anything for you. Now move, I have things to do"
"No" Draco replied simply
"Excuse me?" Hermione's eyes lit with amusement.
"I said no. I won't move" he repeated for her
"Last chance Malfoy" a hint of warning in her otherwise controlled voice.
"No. I told you, I'm a higher being then you and I will never do anything that you tell me too. I don't have to. Besides, there's nothing you can do to me. I'm bigger and probably ten times stronger than you"
Hermione just shook her head. "I warned you Malfoy"
Next thing Draco knew he was pinned to the ground, an unbelievable amount of pain running through his left arm. Hermione had grabbed his arm and flipped him, her one arm horizontal across his neck.
"Listen, and listen good. I will never scream for pain. I never did with him, and you're not any different. And I assure you that I will never scream for pleasure, be it innocent or not. Also, I never have and never will be anyone's property. Do you understand?" Not waiting for his answer, she let him go and turned to the portrait hole.
Draco lay, dazed for a few minutes. Eventually he got up and left for dinner, following the same path that he been taken only minutes before. Upon reaching the Great Hall he saw that Hermione was present, a fake smile on her face.
Not a single person at the Slytherin table noticed him nursing his left arm. That or they didn't want to say anything. Luke wasn't there, and Dallas was sitting with Eva. But even if they had been at the table, they would've been insane to say anything to him. Anyone could see that he was in a bad mood, and Draco Malfoy was always best avoided when in a foul moods.
He sat there, picking at his food when he saw Dallas and Eva leave, than about 5 minutes later Hermione got up. He got up too, and followed her out. He wanted more then ever to find out where they were going.
Hermione stopped at the gym knowing that was where Luke would be. It was a bad habit that they both had. Missing meals, losing track of time, anything like that. They would start exercising and forget about the world that surrounded them. When exercising, all that existed was you and your heartbeat.
She was still pretty angry from what had happened back in the common room, but she would never say anything to anyone. She masked her anger, and there was no way that anyone would ever figure out that there was anything wrong. That was the way she liked it. She hated people asking her if she was alright.
Luke glanced up as Hermione came over with a bottle of water for him. He got off the treadmill and they walked out.
Draco followed them. There was silence in the corridor. Not a single word was spoken until they reached where they needed to be. All Draco could see was a wall. But moments later, Hermione and Luke had disappeared through it.
Draco stood there, staring at it. He should've figured that it was a hidden room. Hermione was smart enough to figure out that that would be the safest place for them to meet and not get caught.
"Hey Malfoy, what are you doing?" Draco whirled around to see Eva and Dallis standing behind him.
"I was…" he began, but he was at a complete loss for words. No plausible excuse would come.
"This had to be a first. Draco Malfoy at a loss for words" Dallis taunted.
"Shut up Cade" Draco shot at him, knowing it was a crappy comeback.
"You followed them didn't you?" Eva asked.
"Yeah so?"
"One sec. Dallis wait out here for a second, you wont be able to get in yet any way" Eva disappeared through the wall, carrying two bags that Draco had just noticed.
She came out seconds later with Hermione. "Mia has to invite you in. There no other way to get in" (a/n: It's kind of like a secret keeper but isn't. You see, there's no password or anything. Hermione just happened to be the one to find the place so only people that she wants in there are allowed to be in there. Don't ask)
"I'll let you in, if you explain what he's doing here" Hermione spoke to Dallis.
"We found him here. Apparently he followed you guys." Dallis explained "Speaking of which, I'm assuming Luke is in there"
"Yeah. Go on in, I'll join you in a minute" she gave Dallis permission
"Listen Malfoy, I don't want you in here. However, it's not my decision alone. Yes, only I can give you permission to enter, but it has to be decided by everyone on whether or not they want you in there. Wait here" she disappeared and left Draco standing there, waiting.
He looked down at his arm to see that there a bruise forming on his wrist. Judging from the pain that shot up and down his back when he leaned up against the wall, there was probably a few there too. Damn she was strong.
He stood there for a good 15- 20 minutes before Hermione emerged again.
"Well" he questioned. If she said no, then there was nothing he could do. He refused to beg.
"You may come in, but be warned over step your boundaries once and I'll have you out so quick that you wont know what happened to you. That means no degrading comments towards me. When you're in here, it's neutral. Do you understand?"
Draco just nodded and Hermione moved, signalling that he could go through. When he walked in, he saw a room with smooth stone walls, covered with pieces of parchment.
One read:
What happens here
Why does it exist
Really it's not fair
To suffer this
It's a disease
But most don't know
They don't call it that
They just shut up and go
It rots inside
And the pressure stays
Its just increases
Over too many lost days
The signs aren't there
Unless you look hard
And most don't expect
A loved one to be given that card
But its there
Hidden under the surface
Full of scars
No one expected this
It's to late now
To fix it all
So they decide
To let them take the fall
What's wrong with this picture?
Not seen with the naked eye
Fear and loss
This was your last chance to say good bye
Another read:
Life
A peaceful daydream
Many believe
Truly a nightmare
For those with the disease
It isn't deadly
If caught on time
A promise of life
Too many were fed that line
It isn't cancer
Nor is it fate
It just happens
People just fall into this state
All it takes is pressure
To truly set it off
Just a little
Even when you believe it's soft
Just keep telling everyone
That they really are alright
Just some treatment
And the life will shine bright
Too many hear this
But it never sinks in
Until the consequences
Face them in the shape of their own kin.
He heard someone clear their throat from behind him.
"Do you plan on joining us anytime soon?" Eva asked as she set out bowls of things out on the table that was surrounded by several armchairs and sofas. When he looked closer, he saw that it was all junk food. Muggle and wizard.
He took the hint and sat down on one of the sofas. "Sorry, I was just reading a couple of those. They're pretty good, who did them?"
"I did and it would do you good to never tell anyone outside of these walls of them. And keep in mind, anything said in here stays in here. Also, just because you're in here doesn't mean that you'll always be invited. I didn't want you to come in. Unfortunately, we're a democracy and they all see no reason to say no" Hermione's voice cool, but her expression showed that she wasn't happy with the decision, but she had no choice in the matter.
Draco knew then that she hadn't told them of the earlier incident. He wasn't going to change the fact that they didn't know either. He wasn't about to admit that a Mudblood had bested him, though from the looks of it she had probably done the same to Dallis and Luke before.
Hermione had hung her poems in here for a long time. She had never intended them to be read though. She had started coming in here before she even met Luke and Eva. By the time they had started using this room as their meeting spot, there were just too many up to take them down. She had made it clear to them that no one was to know that she did this in her spare time. A lot of the time that she had told Harry and Ron she was doing homework, she had been writing.
Hermione looked around, and was struck with a sudden urge to laugh. Here they were; a Ravenclaw, a Gryffindor and three Slytherins. There couldn't have been an odder group of people in the school. Two hated each other, two were going out and one just happened to be the one that tied them all together.
In the beginning she had only been friend with Eva and then Luke just kind of came along. There wasn't anything that you could do in that situation anyway. And then Dallis and Eva started going out, including Dallis in the group. Malfoy though, wasn't part of the group. He was more like an outsider looking in on them.
She felt comfortable here though. Among these people. Her worst enemy or not, she felt semi-safe with him around now. It sounded stupid, yeah. But there was no chance of him trying to hurt her, not after what happened earlier. Also, as she watched him interact, she saw him slowly relaxing into his surroundings.
Draco seemed to forget who surrounded him that even. Seemed to forget everything. He was just able to act like carefree teenager. From about the age of 7 he had been taught to act like an adult. He had had virtually no child hood and even less of an adolescence, so these moments were nice.
Hermione reached forward and grabbed the bowl of Gummie Bears at the same time as Draco.
"Granger, I want those"
"Nope. Sorry. I laid claim on these a long time ago. I get them every time Eva brings them as she never remembers to bring the Nibs."
"Weren't you ever taught to share?"
"No. And from the looks of you I would say you weren't taught to either" Hermione shot back.
"True, but come on. They're the best thing here and I want 'em"
"Malfoy don't fight her on this. Trust me" Dallis cut in. "I mean, I fought her for them one time at the end of last year, and I thought she was going to kill me, she fights for her sweets. Literally"
"I'm with Dallis on this one Malfoy. I taught the girl how to fight and I'll openly admit that she can beat even me now. She's freakishly strong" Luke put in.
"Don't I know it" Draco mumbled, unconsciously grabbing his wrist.
Hermione's gaze shot down to it and she started laughing uncontrollably. Why she didn't know. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she had bested Draco Malfoy, the supposed strongest, fiercest student in Hogwarts.
In the end she won the Gummie Bear fight and Draco settled on Sour Skittles, though that's not to say that he didn't fight for the Gummie Bears. God no. He and Hermione must've fought back and forth for half an hour before he realized there was no way to win.
The other three sat, watching to two banter. It amused them actually that they could go on like that. For enemies, they got along pretty well. The more you looked at them and listened, the more similarities showed through. Of course, outside of these walls, they fought to the bitter end.
But for that evening, they had fun. At one point they had removed all the couches, and Hermione sparred with each person there, winning each time. The only person that she was even close to evenly matched was Draco.
It was here that Draco figured out just how far he could push this girl. What to say in order for her to get angry and what to say so that she would go far enough to hurt him.
He had been brought up to never hit a girl (though his father never honoured that). But he realized that Hermione wasn't your average girl.
He noticed, like the others did, that when you hit her in certain places, she would flinch, but keep on going like nothing had happened. He noticed though, that the places that hurt, weren't from normal sparring or working out. Many bruises had ended up in the same areas on him. This is when the comment, I will never scream for pain. I never did with him, and you're not any different, made sense to him. That's when her personality change and even the smaller changes that he had notices, all clicked together.
She lived a similar hell. She lived the way that he did. Only, she seemed to have learned to cover it up and how to work out her problems much differently then he had. Maybe he would do good to take few pages out of her book for once.
One by one, they all eventually dropped off to sleep. Hermione was the last to go. She was curled up on the sofa next to Luke. She always took a place next to him. Especially ever since Dallis had come into the group.
True, this is the first time that Dallis had been in here, but he fit here now. In fact, Draco even fit here now. She looked around, and saw Draco curled up, right across from her. He wasn't quite asleep yet, though. From the looks of it he was in the realm that existed between the two. The one that she hated, but fell into almost every night.
This realm holds the most vivid dreams. And when you're in it, you never seem to truly sleep. Finally, her eyelids fell, seemingly to heavy to keep open anymore.
&&&&
Hey! How many of you want to hurt me? Especially if your following the other story. I do believe that this it the longest I've ever gone without updating. But I have reasons, First of all: WRITERS BLOCK! You have no clue how bad it was this time. Seriously, I must have re-did this chapter like 3 times before I came up with this. That's why the beginning a little more telling then just plain descriptive. Also I had mid-terms over during the last week of January and I just started a new job. So I've had like no time lately. But I'll try and get another chapter out, but you might have to wait a couple of weeks, as I'm devoting this weekend to GUIAO.
Also, if your new here welcome I hope your enjoying. If you've followed this or any of my stories before and have reviewed or not, thanks for being so faithful. I love you all!
Email Update Alerts are Available. Just leave your email address in your review or request one and I'll get it off your profile (for signed ones only).
Till Next Time (which I'm hoping is in the foreseeable furture)
Pure Mudblood
PS- The chapter length is a rarity and it may never happen again! Just so your warned.
(Edited on August 23 2005)