Draco and Hermione: Lust or Love

..Hospital Wing..

………………….……..

"Draco?!"

"Please believe me. I really am sorry."

She tried to push him away. "I don't believe you."

"I was just mad, Hermione. Please you have to understand."

She pushed forwards, towards him. She was trying to pushed away from the wall but her hands were pinned there. "Draco, I don't understand you at all. Do you not see this bruise on my eye?"

"Yes. I do. Hermione, please. I was mad and the only thing I can do when I'm mad is take it out on other things or people."

"Well, that's your problem not mine."

"I know that, Hermione."

"Good. Now move!" and she pushed hard into him. He barley even moved and Hermione was so scared that she stopped breathing in between his sentences.

"Hermione, I am stronger than you, there's no point in struggling."

"So what. You're just going to keep me here until I believe that you're sorry? I don't think so. And Draco, we're late for class."

"Class starts in three minutes. We aren't done here."

"We don't have anything we have to finish. So it doesn't mater." Hermione squirmed against him. "Draco, just move."

"No. Hermione I am sorry. I didn't mean to. I was taught to punish people when they didn't listen. And plus I was angry. I know you were trying to help me, Hermione. But keeping that letter from me would of only made it worse."

Hermione looked up. "How?" he took a second to talk and Hermione studied him. He had three little scars on his face. You have to be this close to notice them. One above his eyebrow another on the side of his nose and third on his chin.

"I just does. But last night," he looked down then back up at her, his eyes pleading. "I seen you and Jeff. I knew his dad would send a letter for him and me at the same time. My father trusts him to. But when you would give it, I done what I was taught because I freaked out, like a shitless child. You don't understand that, Hermione. I needed to feel in charge but you wouldn't back down, so I stepped up one higher, the one you backed down on."

Hermione looked up at him, sorrow in her eyes. "I'm sorry for that, Draco. But I cant forget what you'd done." she pushed away from him. It wasn't hard, he'd loosened his grip. "I'm sorry." and then she walked away.

…………………………

After lunch, Draco started off for his next class. On the was, Harry and Ron just happened to be there. Apparently Lavender and Pavarti had told them what they'd heard. Afraid for her, they told the two guys who wanted to talk to Draco.

"So, Malfoy…" Draco stood in front of them. "It was you who'd hit her?"

'She told! Oh god, she told!' Draco thought to himself.

"Why did you hit her, Malfoy? What did she do to you? Were you brought up that bad that you hit girls?"

Draco just stood there. Then he shook his head and started to walk around them. Ron pushed him back and walked up to his face.

"You hurt her ever again and I'll-"

"You'll what?" Draco asked. "You think you can hurt me?"

"We can hurt you, Malfoy. Two against one and we know how to fight."

"Don't get all worried. God, you two act like her parents. She can take care of herself. It was her fault anyways."

"So you did hit her?"

"Yeah. I did."

Ron through a punch. Then tackled him. All three of them were on the ground throwing punches. There was blood all over from noses, mouths, and other cuts from each others fists. They'd been on the ground for a while. Ron got up and kicked Draco. Harry, too got up and kicked him. Draco couldn't get up, not with both of them, kicking him.

"You guys! Stop it!" Hermione yelled at them.

Ron looked back at her then kicked him again. She pushed through Harry and jumped to Draco's rescue. She threw herself over Draco's torso. They both stopped and growled at her.

"Please, just stop!"

"Hermione move!" Ron told her.

"No! You guys have to stop it! He's sorry okay? Just leave him alone."

"Fine, whatever you say, Hermione." Harry said, shaking his head at her. The both picked up their books then headed off.

Hermione leaned away from Draco. "Are you alright?" he sure didn't look alright. He had bruised on his face.

"No," he moaned. He put a hand to his left side. Worried, Hermione put a hand to his left side. He moaned again, blood coming out the side of his mouth.

"Oh, god! I think you have a few broken ribs." she leaned back away from him. "Okay, c'mon we have to get you to the hospital wing." he just laid there. "Draco, c'mon, really." he sat up slowly with a moan. She helped him up with her arm around his waist, just under his rib cage.

"Oh, god!" he moaned.

"Okay the infirmary is one floor below us. Do you need help?"

He shook his head and started to the corridor to the grand stair case. He went down the first set of stairs and then turned to the left to the infirmary.

When he walked in, madam Poppy gasped. "What happened to you, Mr. Malfoy?"

He just moaned so Hermione was going to tell her. "He ran into…" she couldn't tell in Harry and Ron.

"Some people. I couldn't see their face, they were in the dark." he looked to Hermione, and she looked at him gratefully and mouthed a 'thank you.'

"Well we'll get you fixed up." Madam Poppy told him. She helped him to a bed, making him moan again as she touched a broken rib. "Take your shirt off, young man! If those broken ribs are bruised then we cant fix them with a spell. We need a potion or two."

Draco stood up and pulled his shirt off then looked at Hermione. She stood there staring at him. She then looked at his chest and stomach then looked up into his eyes. He was sorry. She could tell that.

Hermione notice that he was hot without his shirt on. But with the bruises and the bloody cuts, he didn't look to good. He had a six pack of muscle, nice and tanned chest. It was nice to look at. But now she couldn't help but look at him. He had a beautiful body. But the bruises and cuts were bad.

"Sit down, Mr. Malfoy. And I'll be back in a second." She left the room and they both watched her leave.

Hermione looked back at Draco and signed. She walked over to the bed and sat down on a chair.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Draco let out a sad laugh. "It's alright. I was ready for it sometime today. Knowing that you'd tell them, they'd both come at me. I just didn't know when."

Hermione frowned. "I didn't tell them."

"You didn't?"

"No. Of course I wouldn't! You hit me once and they would beat you to death. And I'm not kidding. This summer, I took them to a party and a guy came at me. They beat him black and blue."

"Oh…"

"Yeah, oh." Hermione looked at the door then back at him. "Draco-"

"I am sorry, Hermione. I really didn't mean to hit you."

"It's alright. I don't know why you hit me but I'm sure you're sorry. I'm sorry for not giving the letter to you." Draco looked up at the ceiling.

"You thought you were helping, Hermione. But when you see me like that just do what I ask. I can get out of control like that and when I do, you shouldn't be near me."

"Draco." then she stopped, thinking of how she was going to word this. "About Ron and Harry. There're like…" she shook her head.

"Like brothers. They protect you. And if someone does hit you they should be there to beat the shit out of the person who did it."

"I know. But they really hurt you."

He turned his head to look at her. "And I hurt you."

"But that's different," Hermione told him. But it wasn't different and she knew that.

"Hermione… I hit a girl, I should get the shit beaten out of me. Well maybe not this much but… it's over."

Madam Poppy came in with a big bowl of the light purple stuff. "Miss. Granger, we need to get that swelling down on your eye. She mumbled a charm and the swelling went down but not completely. "There's still a bit of blue around your eye but that's the best you can do with that." Then she turned to Draco.

"We need to get this over your body," she said, pointing to the bowl. "Over your bruises and cuts. The cuts will heel when the potion touches it. But the bruises with take a while. We need the bruising all the way gone. So in the mean while, we need to get this on you," she put the bowl on the table. "Sit up, please."

Draco slowly sat up, with a loud moan.

"Madam Poppy!" some yelled from behind her. She turned around and seen three boys barge in. "We need help." The person in the middle of the two, had his arms around the two other boys' shoulders. "He fell down like four floors. The stair case moves on him." The middle boy was unconscious. The two boys had carried him up (or down) here. He was all bruised and probably had a lot of broken bones, too.

"Put him on the bed." she told the two boys then turned to Hermione. "Can you put this on him?"

Hermione looked to the light purple goop then at Draco. "Yeah, sure."

"Great! Start on his chest. He can lay on his back, if it helps. It'll hurt anyway so…" then she walked away, pulling the curtain around the bed.

Hermione stared at the light Purple stuff. Then she looked at Draco. "Okay, lets get started."

"Hermione, you don't have to."

She shook her head. "No. I will." he looked at her. "Don't be so worried. I'll be gentle."

She put the pillow down on the bed and pushed him down on the bed slowly and looked at him.

"Ready?" he closed his eyes and nodded. Hermione reached into the bowl and scooped a bit up. It was thick and felt like a sort of cream. She spread it over his chest. The cuts healed right away. Clearing itself instantly. Draco inhaled sharply every time the potion touched a cut. She massaged his chest, rubbing the potion in, making the bruises swelling to go down, making his chest look better. The potion didn't look purple on his skin, but just made it a little shiny.

She touch a broken rib and Draco wined and sucked in another breath.

"Sorry!" she told him. 'Oh, god. This is horrible! I'm just hurting him more!' Hermione was trying to be as careful as possible.

She smoothed the potion across another broken rib, making him wince again. "Sorry."

"'S alright."

When she looked up at his face, she found him looking at her. It wasn't a weird stare but like he was studding her. Trying to remember all her different facial expressions.

"You alright?" she asked.

"Mmm hmm."

"Well we're done. Now we need your back." she told him, helping him sit up.

"You don't have to do my back." Draco told her.

"It doesn't matter. If you don't want me to then I wont. But I will do it."

"That's not the problem. It just doesn't look to nice."

Hermione frowned. "Whatever." she mumbled her herself. "Okay. Sit closer to the end of the bed and I'll sit behind you, okay?"

He didn't answer but moved closer to the end of the bed. Hermione put the bowl down on the bed then sat down behind him.

"Oh, god!" she gasped.

"I warned you," she looked down his back. White scars ran across his back. There were four of them. Two about seven inches another about five inches and the last on was only two. It wasn't the cuts or bruises that made tears appear in her eyes. The scares were from a whip.

"What happened to you? Who did this?"

"Can you not guess?" he asked looking back at her.

"Your father." she looked down at the bowl in her lap. "I'm sorry."

She cleared her throat and then sniffed. 'How could he live with this? His father had beat him with a whip! A whip! How many people knew about this?'

Hermione reached in the bowl and scooped up a bit of the purple potion. She put her hand to the middle of his back, over a cut and rubbed the potions in. He sucked in a breath. Obviously it hurt. She pulled her hand away but then put it back on another spot spreading it around his back, over the cuts, bruises and scars.

"My father never cared how much I hurt, only if I would learn my lesson. It was my fault, always my fault if he beat me. My mother cared, thought. She would always be there when he left me, bruised and beaten. But the time he used the whip, she wasn't there. He beat her when he was done with me. That time she was so bad, I thought she'd die. One of the housekeepers, she always wanted to help my mother when she was hurt. And when my father told her to get lost and leave her alone. But she told him and she told him good. She told him he broke most of her ribs, and it was too hard for her to breathe. She told him they'd have to kill her or bring her to a hospital. My father told her to kill her then."

Hermione just sat and listened. "She told him that she would not be killed. That she was not going to let my mother die. So my father beat her up. Raped her than beat her."

"Oh, god, Draco! I'm so sorry."

He shrugged. There was no emotion in his voice. "I was still down in the dungeon when I heard him to this. I would of helped her but I couldn't. I stayed down there for two days, until I could get up. I was so sore and bruise, I thought of just dying until another housekeeper helped me up to my room. My father left for the next week after that and we got my mom to a hospital. It was bad. But she got healed."

"I'm really sorry. I didn't know."

"No one knew." Hermione but some of the purple goop on another cut. His back tensed for a second then relaxed again.

"Sorry if it hurts." She started to massage his back, while putting the goop on. Each time she touch a broken rib his shoulders would go up, taking in a breath. Hermione was careful but it didn't help to she would just try and ignore his pain.

When she was done, she got off the bed and grabbed the bowl.

"I'll be back in a second." and she left to get Madam Poppy.

She walked in and seen the cuts healed at the potion on his chest. "Good. Now Mr. Malfoy get your sleep and Miss. Granger you can go. The classes are over and supper will almost be done. Hurry up and get something to eat." Hermione nodded and left, looking back at Draco as she left.

Hermione went down to the great hall. She was worried about Draco. God, she didn't know about the marks on his back. They were bad. She couldn't even imagining Lucius being that mean to beat his own son with a whip, a damn whip!

She turned into the great hall and seen Harry and Ron. They looked at her as she walked in. She walked over to them and sat down beside Ron.

"So did you guys have a fun time beating up Draco?"

"Do you have a good time letting Draco punch you?" Ron asked back. He didn't look at her just reached out for another grape. He popped it in his mouth then turned to her. "Why are you always protecting him?"

"I'm not!" she told him.

"You do so! We call him something and you right away jump to his defence!"

"That's because there is nobody to defend for him. He has no one, Ron!"

"And what? You plan to be his someone? You leave us to be with the enemy. What is with that? And you defend him when he hit you. What's gotten into you, Hermione?"

"Nothing has gotten into me, Ron. He hit me and I know he's sorry. He was taught that way, he cant help it!"

"There you go again," Ron looked straight ahead of him. "Defending him again!" Hermione moaned. She couldn't win here.

"Harry…" Hermione turned to him and so did Ron.

"You guys lets just drop it." They both just looked at him, waiting for him to decide who was right. "Hermione, Ron's right. You are always defending him." Ron smiled at her then lifted his goblet to his lips.

"That's because he's my friend!" Hermione said in a sort of proud voice.

Ron spit out his pumpkin juice and started to chock on some he swallowed to hard. It made people at the table close to theirs look at him. "You're his what?"

"Yes, Ron. I'm his friend!" and she got up and left, leaving Ron to stare after her.

………………..

Thanks to all the people who reviewed on the last chapter. I'm might just use some of you're great ideas. Thanks!!!!!

Chebetta