Chapter Nine

A/N: Just letting you all know that there are some mildly disturbing scenes and a bit of swearing later on in the chapter so I'll put an asterisk where the scenes start and finish.

For the next few days, Draco was unable to get out of bed due to his swollen foot. The Malfoys all believed in Hermione's story of a heavy book crushing it, so no suspicion was aroused by the injury. Hermione visited him daily, to the surprise of both of them.

She felt compelled to see him, to make sure he was fine...since she was the one who had caused the injury in the first place. At first, Draco was wary - he didn't want Xavier to become too suspicious, and he wasn't sure why she was being so nice to him. But in the end he gave in, and let himself enjoy her company, they both needed familiarity, something to remind them of Hogwarts, to keep them from going crazy with homesickness.

They hadn't been able to brew the potion yet, since Draco was still bedridden, and because there were many people going to and from his room due to his injury, there was no privacy. So they used Hermione's daily visits as a time to chat, to resolve their differences, and to get to know each other a bit better.

It was strange, but they found many things in common and gradually their friendship became more solid.

"Morning, big foot." Hermione teased as she slipped into his room. He grunted at her from the window where he was standing.

"Oh! You're finally up - congratulations." she walked over to where he stood.

"Yeah," he replied with a small smile, "Hey, did anyone see you come in?"

"Don't think so." she answered, "Why?"

"The family might start getting a bit suss because you're spending so much time in my room." he said quietly.

"Oh come on, its not like I'm in here all day. Anyway, I only come when everyone else is out." she reassured him.

"Still..." he scowled.

"Oh, right I- I get it. You don't want me here?" she asked tentatively.

"That's not what I mean, Granger." he answered quickly.

"So now I'm Granger again?" she shot back.

She felt so strange, it was as though he had distanced himself from her again by calling her Granger. It was as though the past few days never happened, as though they weren't friends. She gave him one last anguished glare and strode quickly to the door.

"Hermione. I -"

"Save it. I don't want to waste your time, Malfoy." she spat out bitterly. And she slammed the door shut behind her.

Draco closed his eyes and swore under his breath. Now what the hell did he do that for? He walked slowly back to his bed, and lay there for a very long time - he couldn't focus...his mind kept replaying the moment when Hermione slammed the door on him. Had he lost his only friend in this goddamn place? He wanted to apologise, he really did...but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Malfoys were not made for apologies - it was an unwritten rule of the Malfoy Code of Conduct.

He bit his lip. He couldn't risk losing Granger...he needed her to get back to Hogwarts, and...he needed her company, he grudgingly admitted to himself. She was really something, he couldn't remember when he had had such intellectual conversations with a member of the opposite sex - given that he was surrounded by ditzy bimbos such as Pansy, Millicent and all the other Slytherin girls, it was a refreshing change to talk to Hermione.

He tossed and turned on his bed for hours, ignoring whoever came to speak to him - he was in such a foul mood. He hoped that Hermione would come back so that he could talk things over with her, explain to her that he was just worried, and that he did want her to keep him company.

But she didn't come.

For hours he lay there on his bed, waiting for her to return...

Draco awoke to the sound of water running in his bathroom. He gingerly got out of bed, and walked slowly to the bathroom, was it Granger in there again? He quietly opened the door, and his heart leaped when he saw chestnut brown hair, but was disappointed to find when the girl turned around that it was just one of the maids, drawing hot water for his bath.

"Thank you, Louise." he sighed. She smiled brightly at him,

"Are you better now, Mister Malfoy?" Louise asked.

"Yes, much better." He answered, "Uh, Louise I've got to go somewhere now, could you prepare my bath later?"

"Not a problem, sir." she replied. He nodded and walked as fast as he could from his room.

His destination?

Granger's room of course.

--

Hermione had sulked in her room all day. She couldn't even understand why she had gotten so worked up about Draco calling her Granger again, after all he had called her worse things before. But it was different now, they were friends - and they needed each other. God, she felt like such a reject. She had probably just lost her only friend in this place.

Hermione didn't know what to do - should she go and apologise to him for her outburst or should she wait for him? She mulled over the question and debated with herself all day, coming up with new reasons for and against. In the end she just gave up in exhaustion, and fell into a fitful sleep.

A loud knock jerked her from her slumber and she blearily opened her eyes and glanced at the clock. Eight pm already?! She hurried quickly to the door and opened it. Perhaps it was Draco, coming to talk things over?

No such luck. It was Xavier. A very angry looking Xavier.

"Where have you been all day, Marie?!" he exclaimed, grabbing her shoulders.

"Just in my room. I haven't been feeling well." She replied meekly.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I...all I needed was to rest." she answered. He looked her in the eye steadily.

"You're lying." he said.

"No I'm not!"

"You went to his room didn't you?" Xavier suddenly said softly.

Hermione's eyes widened...how did he know?

"Whose room?"

"You know what I'm talking about." he said, his voice still deadly soft.

"No I'm afraid I don't know." she replied as surely as she could.

"You lying bitch! You've been sleeping with him haven't you?!" he suddenly yelled. His eyes glared at her, daring her to say no.

"Sleeping with who?!" she exclaimed in confusion.

"Julien!" he screamed back at her. She paused for a moment - how could he think that she was cheating on him with Draco?!

Xavier saw her hesitation and his eyes narrowed. Then he slapped her. She fell to the cold ground in shock, clutching her flushed cheek.

"So you're not denying it?" he asked silkily.

"I am! How could you think that -" He slapped her again. This time Hermione tasted blood.

"Michel has seen you visiting him many times, Marie. It's futile to lie to me, I know everything." he snarled.

Hermione was afraid. There was this animal-like gleam in his eyes, she had never seen a man look so angry. He stood towering above her, breathing heavily.

"Xavier..." she whispered. He glared at her. Then in one swift action he picked her up and carried her to her bed.

"Wha-what are you doing?" she asked in shock.

"I'm going to teach you a lesson."

He threw her roughly onto the bed and positioned himself on top of her.

Oh god no.

He began to kiss her forcefully on her lips, his mouth coming down hard and unyieldingly onto hers. She tried to push him away, but he was too strong for her. He had her pinned down on either side. He continued to kiss her, and his hands wandering up and down her body.

Hermione felt so sick. It was wrong to be touched by this... monster. She whimpered and tried to push him away again.

"Stay still bitch." he growled, slapping her again for good measure.

"Leave me alone!" she yelled. His hands were on her thighs and immediately she felt the violation of her privacy.

"Somebody help me!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, trying to kick him away.

"I told already you to stay still. No one's going to help you. Legally, you're mine anyway." he whispered in her ear.

Hermione screamed. He had already undone the strips of ribbon holding her dress together, and was pulling it off brusquely, his cold lips kissing her exposed flesh.

"You bastard! Stop!" she yelled again. She was only in her underdress now, and she could feel his unfeeling eyes sizing up her figure. She wanted to throw up. This was just so wrong.

He slipped the shoulder of her flimsy dress off tauntingly.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" she gasped out in panic.

He slipped the other shoulder off and was about to rip the whole dress from her body when he was stopped in his tracks by a cold voice.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing."

Hermione stopped struggling.

It was Draco.

And the look on his face showed that he had only one thing on his mind - punching Xavier senseless.

He hauled his brother roughly by his collar and threw him violently to the floor. Then he proceeded to punch him repeatedly as his brother struggled to get up. Once Draco was satisfied that he had done enough damage to Xavier to prevent him from doing anything, he got up from the floor, and walked over to where Hermione was huddled on the bed.

"Hey, are you ok?" he asked quietly. Hermione was crying and she looked at him with a tear-stained face. They looked at each other for a few moments. Then he put his arms around her and held her close to him. She silently lay her head on his chest.

"I'm so sorry." she whispered.

"So...so am I." he murmured.

"I overreacted this morning and -" she said quickly.

"Shh...that's not important anymore. Tell me what happened." he soothed her.

"He thinks that I'm cheating on him with you." she explained.

"What?!"

"Yeah apparent-" she was cut off as Draco was pulled from her and thrown on the ground.

Xavier, bloody from his broken nose and seething with anger was back for more. He got his brother into a stranglehold and was choking him. Draco was turning blue from the lack of air.

"NO!!!!!" Hermione screamed. She threw her arms out in an effort to stop Xavier.

The moment her fingers came into contact with his skin something miraculous happened.

Xavier was thrown powerfully against the wall by some unseen force, and Draco was released from suffocation.

All three of them were stunned by what had happened.

"Wh - what was that..." stammered Hermione.

"Didn't know you could perform wandless magic, Hermione." replied Draco. She gave him a strange look. And then she looked over to where Xavier lay slumped, winded from the impact with the wall. He had a look of fear in his eyes.

"You're...you're a witch." he whispered. Hermione glanced frantically at Draco. He was looking oddly at his brother.

"So?" Draco spat at him.

"So, I'll have to turn her in, brother." sneered Xavier, "The witch hunters are still looking for these devils."

Hermione gasped. Witch hunters?!

"I see." Draco answered shortly. He did some quick thinking and then walked over to where Xavier lay and kicked him in the groin until he was writhing around in absolute agony. Xavier was effectively immobilised. Draco then grabbed Hermione's hand and ran.

They tore through the corridors and dashed down the stairs. Several shocked servants saw them, but were unable to stop them. Draco led Hermione out the back entrance and they continued to sprint away from the chateau into the inky black night.

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A/N: Ohh...what a chapter! Hoped you all liked it! Oh my god, thank you all soooo much for your reviews! That's the most reviews I've ever gotten for a single chapter! I was so surprised and very very happy. Keep it up guys...and stay tuned for the next chapter.