Crimson Rain Drops

Chapter 19

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

 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:'

Finally, all the questions had been asked and all the explanations had been explained. Glancing at the clock Hermione realizes that dinner was half over and she realized just how hungry she was.

"Guys, come on, I can hear some chicken calling my name" she beckoned to them to follow her as she walked out the portrait hole and down the corridors.

Upon reaching the Great Hall she did not sit with them, despite their incessant asking. No, she didn't feel at home among the Gryffindors anymore. They had shunned her out of their inner circles when she had broke off her friendships with Harry and Ron. Even now, she did not feel at home among them. The people that she felt at home with were sitting three tables away; at the Slytherin table. It wad there that she still felt accepted, even if it wasn't by all.

She walked over to the table and sat herself down in-between Luke and Draco. They were engaged in a conversation about the Quidditch match coming up after Christmas. Slytherin vs. Gryffindor. Slytherin was in the lead for the year of all the houses for house points right now. And from the sounds of it, they fully intended to keep it that way.

Hermione just sat listen to her friends talk amongst the selves, helping herself to a dinner roll. This was where she belonged now. Where she had belonged for a while.

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After dinner, Hermione found herself sitting in the Head Common Room, next to Draco on the green couch. While this seemed like a small detail, it wasn't. Not only was she not sitting with Luke, like she always did, she was sitting with Draco's arms wrapped securely around her. The other three were watching her, them, from the adjacent couch. They were waiting for one of them to start telling their stories. Draco had not intended to have much involvement in tonight's meeting, but Eva had been adamant that he explain himself. That he explain his scars, and tell then his story.

Hermione looking into the eyes of the one holding her, questioning. Her nodded to her, giving her the right to start whenever she wished. She exhaled the breath she had not even realised she was holding, and then she started.

"As you know already, I was born into a loving home with two loving parents, both of whom were dentists. For thirteen years, it was a wonderful life to lead/ I didn't think it could get much better. Apparently, I was right. It couldn't get any better. At home. I'm not exactly sure what happened to them, but somewhere between the summer after third year and the summer after fourth year, both Ryan and Teresa Granger when from loving parents, to drunk, angry people whose names happened to be on my birth certificate. They came home drunk every night, bet me almost every night for three straight summers. Any money we may have had saved was long gone. My Hogwarts money came from a vault I had opened by myself, and had been storing money in each year since the beginning of Hogwarts. I removed most of the money from the family vault and put it in my own, not that they ever noticed."

Hermione stopped for a moment, and Draco tightened his grip on her slightly, pulling her in closer. She picked up one of the objects that was beside her. "This," he held it up, "was my refuge for fourth year. My journal. Everything went in it. All in the form of poems. Many of which, you have already seen. I hoped that things would improve in the summer after fifth year, but they got worse instead. The beatings lasted longer, causing more and more scars. That's when I pick this up for the first time." She gently unwrapped her blade. "This became my new refuge. This became my release. It was almost like instinct. I always knew how far I could go without causing any permanent damage, besides a simple scar that I could later remove. It was around the same time that I picked up my first alcoholic beverage. One would think that I would never touch the stuff, as it had been what started this whole mess in the first place."

Hermione paused again, biting her lip, nervously looking into the faces of those across from her. They were looking at her intently, waiting for her to continue, not willing to interrupt her flow, almost as if afraid she would stop the story.

"I hid the cutting, obviously, but I also hid the drinking. While others around me experiments, I still masqueraded as perfect, know-it-all, Hermione Granger. Even after I met you two," she gestured to Eva and Luke, "I hid it. You didn't think I drank until our second day this year. Thought I had never touched it. That I hated it. It was also in sixth year that I turned to another comfort. That's where Matthew Betrador entered the picture. I was at a party one weekend, where people would be too drunk to remember I was there. Hell, I barely even remember being there. I know I was though, because the next morning I woke up naked in the arms of a Slytherin. I lost my virginity to someone I had barely ever spoken to, and I didn't even remember it. Needles to say, Matt and I started dating not long after, though no one knew about it. Then, about to months later, at the very tail end of April, I went into Madame Pomfrey to get some flu potion. I had been throwing up for three days straight. As Madame Pomfrey is checking me over to make sure everything else was alright, I got a pretty big shock. She informed me that I was pregnant. I'm still not sure how I really felt about the news. Not overly happy, that's for sure. I mean, I was 17 and pregnant. I told Matt about it, and he seemed ok with it. Seemed like it wasn't a big deal to him." A/N: Refer to the notes at the end about the age mix-up just above. There's a reason for it, I swear! Or, I hope at least

Hermione had to stop to steady her voice as it began to tremble. It didn't matter that they already knew this part. It was still hard to talk about. More then likely, it would always be hard to talk about. Draco pulled her in closer still as she began again. "On Saturday, May 17, I lost the baby, and part of what was left of my soul went with it. As I went to find Matt and tell him, I found him in bed with someone else. I found out that night that he had been cheating on me the entire time. I yelled, and screamed and threw anything I could get my hands on at him. As the girl ran out, I punched her. I still cant remember her face, though I'm sure she remembers mine. Then I told him about the baby, before turning my back on him forever. Somewhere between there and the Gryffindor common room, I collapsed in tears. I had lost so much in such a short period of time. I remember feeling someone sit next to me, pull me into a hug and ask me what was wrong. I didn't even realize it was Draco until my tears dried up and I pulled myself away from the embrace. I thanked him, went back to my dorm and slept like a baby for the first time in months."

"I returned to my residence this summer, more broken then I had been when I had left. The summer went the same as the two previous. Except, this time, I just ignored Harry and Ron completely. The beginning of this year was more eventful then most. I let something else see me drink. I told off Harry and Ron, blaming them completely for something that was partially my fault. When I went for my blade that night, Draco caught me. That's why he made you all leave so quickly." Eva, Draco and Luke still kept their faces straight, just listening intently. "He then came back to me, cleaned me up and dint hold it against me. That day I found out that he cut too. I had believed for years that I was the only one, as stupid as that sounds." She stopped and looked up at Draco. It was his turn. This was the point where the two stories converged.

Draco began to tell his story for the first time. "My story is much the same as hers. Except, my father started when I was about five and he had the advantage of magic on his side. He gave me scars that no magic could ever remove. When I was about fourteen, I picked up my blade," he held his knife up for the others to see. "I started drinking when I was 13. I hardened my heart, refusing to ever let anyone in. I did my school work, keeping my marks as high and perfect as possible. I kept Crabbe and Goyle around as my bodyguards for about five years, until I was strong enough to defend myself. Basically, I just kept to myself. Last year, when I found Hermione on the ground in the middle of a corridor, I offered her my shoulder to cry on. I don't know why, but it seemed like the right thing to do. Then, at the beginning of this year, "Mudblood Granger" peaked my interest. She was the first person I had ever come across who I couldn't read like a book. So I started hanging out with you guys more. At the same time, I started to fall in love without even knowing it."

Draco stopped, and handed the story back to Hermione. This was solely her part to tell. "I finally decided that I had had enough of the life I was leading. But instead of trying to change it, I decided to just through it all away. I downed two full bottles of pills and waited. I sat on my bed and starred at the note I had writing, at the names mentioned, and it hit me what, exactly I was trying to do. I ran to the bathroom and forced myself to start throwing up. Draco came in, and held my hair back and when I was finished, he once again offered his shoulder for me to cry on. And again, he let me cry and cry, untl my tears ran dry and my eyelids fell shut. He put me to bed that night. The next morning, he wakes me up with an ultimatum: I give everything up, and he wouldn't tell a soul or I keep treading my self-destructive path, and he would tell the whole world. Obviously, I gave it all up. But I made him give it up to. His blade, I mean. We bound ourselves to one another, so that we couldn't go back on our word. Then, Ryan showed up."

Again, the story shifted to Draco. "While Hermione was in the Hospital Wing, the bond was broken. You guys found me one night, in the worst shape I have ever been it. Hermione's blade was in my hand, having been the one I chose to do the damage. I chose it because I blamed her for driving me to it. That wasn't true though. Stress, frustration and most of all, fear, had put me in that position. Fear of losing the one thing that I truly, with all my heart, loved," he took a deep breath, before concluding. "I believe, that you guys know the rest."

Hermione and Draco starred at the three. Eva sat there, rocking slightly in her position. Dallis was staring straight ahead, looking as if he was still shifting through the information still. Luke was a different story though. Luke had been sitting stoke still, then he started to tremble and shake.

He was the first to speak. "You. . .you. . . You almost take your life and don't feel the need to tell us? To tell your best friends?" He kept his voice even, but his eyes were flashing.

Hermione looked him dead in the eye, though there was a hint of fear in her eyes. "Luke, I didn't tell you because I didn't want to hurt you again. Remember what happened when you found out about Matt? About my unborn child? I couldn't bear that happening again. That anger, that disappointment. I didn't want to see what I see now. You're one of my closest friends. My best friend. The hurt that I see now is something that I never, ever wanted to see again."

Eva had reached for the note book and was reading the marked page. Hermione's suicide note. She began to read it out loud, cutting Luke off when he went to speak again.

"Why did I do this? Why did I decide that this was it? This was the end? Because in my mind it is. I'm not going any farther and I don't want to. Its not worth it. There's too much bull shit to deal with. You people think…." she read it with a clear voice, keeping the tears threatening to fall from falling. She paused right before the portion that was meant for Luke. "Luke, I owe you my world. I love you so much and I thank whoever put you in my path…"

she read it with a clear voice, keeping the tears threatening to fall from falling. She paused right before the portion that was meant for Luke. "

Hermione was staring at her hands, not willing to meet anyone's eyes. She had been so stupid. So ignorant. She had really thought she had been doing the right thing. But as she had starred at the names of those she claimed to love and who loved her, and thought of what she was going to do to them, she had backtracked. She had panicked, and done the first thing she had thought of. Unknowingly, her friends had saved her life.

Luke watched Hermione as her eyes fell, almost in shame. He had gotten mad at her, again. For something that he should've just been there for. Something he should've helped prevent in the first place. He walked over to her when the reading was done and wrapped his arms around her.

Luke loved this girl. Loved her with everything he had. He wanted her to be solely his, and yet, when he had seen her in Draco's arms, it has just looked so right. Now he could be nothing more then what she wanted. Her best friend.

He was soon followed by Eva and Dallis, and then Draco. The five stood, tears rolling down their cheeks, without realizing it. They were no longer tears of sadness though. They were tears of joy.

All five of them were going to step into the future together. Together, they would ward off harm and welcome joy and comfort.

Luke Laurthian was traveling an unknown path, but he hoped it would have a happy ending. Eva Laurthian and Dallis Cade, well, they would be just fine. Sure, no one knew if they would be together forever, but they hoped and prayed they would be. After all, they had been able to survive through a year of Hermione and her mannerisms. That seemed like the hardest task they would ever have to endure. Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy were not perfect, nor would there ever be. They would have some scars for the rest of their lives. Reminders of their past, and their reasons for striding into the future.

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That's it…almost. That's the end of the story. I'm going to do an epilogue, strictly for the purposes of telling you what will happen in the lives of my lovely five. And typing up any loose ends I may come across. But before I post that, I'm taking this week to go back an edit everything one last time, just so I know that this story is to the highest perfect it can be while I still keep it as my story.

I thank all my readers, those you read and reviewed, those you only read, and those who emailed me asking when I would update, kicking my butt into gear. I love you all.

And I'm begging you… please, please, please, if you find something wrong, or have a question, leave it in a review or email me. Any loose ends that you guys find…let me know because I may miss them!

Also, I'm posting the first chapter of my new story tonight it's 1:26 am when I'm finishing this Normally, I would do two, but I want to see the reaction to it before I post another one.

I hope that this has been done to your satisfaction and I hope that you all enjoyed.

For almost the last time with Crimson Rain Drops.

Pure Mudblood