AN-Hum...I think it is time to mix things up a bit... ::evil laugh:: ::giggles:: Enjoy!!!

Last Time

"I care about you too." he said as he looked into her eyes.

Hermione looked into his eyes for any sign of a lie, but when she found none she smiled. Then, he leaned in and placed a kiss on her lips. "Now, you better get some sleep. You aren't fully healed yet." he said as he stood and walked out of the room with the biggest grin on his face.

Hermione was walking down a street that she didn't recognize. She tried to find something that she would recognize, but there was nothing. The street was totally deserted except for a few homeless people asleep in trashcans or boxes by the road. 'What is going on? How did I get here? Where is here?' Hermione asked herself over and over again as she frantically searched for anything that would spark something in her mind.

Then, she heard movement coming from an alley next to her. She froze and slowly turned to see if anything would appear out of the dark alleyway. When nothing happened, she decided to continue moving. At a slightly faster pace she resumed her search for something familiar. She walked a few more yards before she heard it again. It sounded like footsteps coming from behind her. This time she froze but she didn't turn around. She just stood still, staring her ears incase she heard the footsteps again.

She did this for several minutes before once again telling herself that she was just imagining things and continuing her walk. Then, out of nowhere, she felt arms grab her. One covered her mouth, the other wrapped tightly around her waist. She tried to scream, but she found it completely useless. The only people around to hear were those homeless people who had glared at her as she passed their makeshift shanties.

The person that had a hold of her, suddenly began to drag her towards the dark alley he had came from. She struggled with all her might, but found it impossible. When the man reached his destination, he spun her around and held her tightly against a brick wall. Hermione, gathering all of the courage she could muster, looked up into the face of her captor only to have to force down a scream when she saw who it was. "No..." she whispered. Her words weren't audible, but the fear in her eyes gave her away.

"What's wrong baby? Don't you love your daddy anymore?" said the man.

"Please leave me alone." she said in the steadiest voice she could manage.

"Ah, baby. Come here and give your old man a kiss." he said as he leaved towards her, hands positioned on either side of her body.

Hermione turned her face away so that his kiss landed on her cheek. 'No...Draco...help...' she thought desperately as she saw fury glaze over her fathers eyes. She closed her eyes tightly and prepared herself for the pain that she knew was coming. She stood there for a minute before she realized that his weight was no longer pressed against her. She slowly opened her eyes to see Draco standing over her father with his wand raised. He said something that Hermione was unable to hear, but she knew exactly what he had said as a bright green light lit up the dark alley. Hermione squeezed her eyes shut until the light had faded. Then, she opened them to see her fathers lifeless body sprawled on the pavement and Draco walking cautiously towards her.

She stared blankly from one to the other for a few seconds before falling into Draco's arms. "Hermione, are you alright? Did he....do...anything to you??" Draco asked as he gently rubbed circles on her back.

"I ok. Since you got here." she said in barely a whisper. "I am so glad you came, Draco..."

Draco smiled down at her before slowly leaning toward her...

Suddenly Hermione shot straight up in her bed. She was sweating and there were dried tears on her cheeks, but there was a smile pasted on her face. She closed her eyes and reminisced in the dream, but this was cut short when she heard an "Umm hum" coming from next to her. She opened her eyes and saw Draco sitting on the edge of the bed with a puzzled expression on his face and a wet towel in his hand.

After a few seconds of silence, Draco said, "I came in and you are screaming and crying, so I tried to wake you up, but you wouldn't wake. I went into the kitchen to get a wet towel to clean your face and I come back and you are smiling like it's Christmas. What happened?"

Hermione didn't know what to say. She couldn't tell him that she had been dreaming about him rescuing her. He'd freak out. "Huh? Oh, I'm fine. I just had a nig--I just had a dream. That's, that's all." she replied.

"What do you mean a dream. You were kicking and screaming one minute and the next you seemed like you couldn't be happier. What was the dream about?" Draco asked.

"Well, it started out bad, but it turned out good," she said, "but thanks for coming to my rescue."

Draco half-smiled. He knew she was hiding something, but he decided he would accept it for now and ask again later. "Well, if you are sure that you are ok, I guess I will leave." he said as he got up to leave.

Hermione, who didn't want him to leave said, "Well, the dream did kind of freak me out. Would you mind terribly staying here for a little while? We can talk"

"Sure," Draco said as he sat back down on her bed. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know. Any suggestions?"

"I dunno either." he said as he tried to get comfortable.

Hermione noticed this and scooted over. "Here. It's a king size bed, we can both lay down." she said as she gestured for him to lay down next to her. Draco hesitated, but decided that it couldn't hurt and he laid down next to her.

Soon, they were deep in conversation. After talking for a few minutes Hermione's body gave an involuntary shudder from cold.

"Are you cold?" he asked.

"N-no." she said through chattering teeth.

"Yes you are." he said as he opened his arms and gestured for her to enter the warmth of his embrace. She hesitated, but when he said, "Come on," she moved into his arms quickly. "How's that?"

Hermione made a small sound of content before relaxing against his chest. 'Nothing could be more perfect than this.' she thought right before she fell into the most incredible sleep she had ever had.

Draco laid there with this girl in his arms, taking in her scent and could only think one thing, 'Nothing could be more perfect than this. I think that I am in...' With that last thought, he drifted off into a wonderful sleep.

Knock Knock

Hermione woke with a start when she heard a knock at the door. 'Who could that be?' she wondered as she got up from the bed. 'Wait, where did Draco go?' she wondered as she walked out of the room. Then she heard the shower running and solved that mystery, but she still didn't know who was at the door.

Hermione slowly approached the door and was about to open it before pausing. 'What if it is my dad, or worse...Draco's...' with that thought she sidestepped to look out the window and saw none other than a certain tall red-haired Weasley. She went and opened the door without a second thought.

"Hermione!!" Ron said as she held the door open for him.

"Hey Ron. What are you---" Hermione was cut off when she saw Ron's eyes nearly pop out of his head. "What is it..." she began as she followed his eyes to the bathroom door, but she trailed off when she saw Draco standing there in nothing but a towel.

"Malfoy?!!??" Ron yelled before turning to Hermione. "Oh, I see what is going on here," he began "Oh Ron, my dad is beating me and I am in hiding. But don't try to find me, he might follow you." he mimicked in a high voice.

"Ron, let me explain. It's not what it looks like..." Hermione said, but Ron wasn't paying attention.

"So, you wanted to get me and Harry feelin' all sorry for you while you were out here SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY!!!!!!!!" he yelled.

"No, it's not like that..." Hermione tried once again, but it was no use. Ron just continued ranting.

"How could you, Hermione?? You betrayed me and H-Harry...and m-me. Hermione you betrayed ME!!!!"

Hermione opened her mouth to explain, but the pain in his voice left her speechless. "R-Ron...I-I...."

"NO!!! I came here to save you because you said that you were in trouble, but what did I find? I find that you aren't in trouble. In fact you are quite all right, you just didn't want us to come because you were having some freaky relationship with MALFOY!!!"

"No Ron...It's not like that!!!" Hermione said, as a last attempt to reason with him, but he wasn't listening.

"Well fine then. Me and Harry don't need you anyway!!!"

"IT'S HARRY AND I!!" Hermione yelled back as anger was mounting inside of her. "And I didn't do anything!!!"

Ron scoffed and walked away. When he was halfway down the drive he turned back to her. "You know what you are? You are just a stupid, Slytherin WHORE!!!" With that, he mounted his broom and flew off.

As Ron disappeared into the clouds, Hermione broke down. She fell to her knees in the doorway and cried. Draco, not knowing what to do, picked her up and carried her to the couch. He sat down and she encircled his neck tightly and dried into his chest.

"It's OK. I am sure that he is just a little shocked. Don't worry. "Draco said as he ran his fingers through her silky hair. 'Wait. Did I just try to save the Dream Team?' he wondered. 'No, I just don't want Hermione to cry. She is my friend after all.'

"No, I don't want to talk to him ever again!!!" Hermione said suddenly. "He called me a...and he wouldn't even listen to me!! I mean there isn't even anything going on between us. We're just friends.

At these words Draco's heart sank. 'Nothing...' Draco, who had never been rejected by a girl before, didn't know how to deal with this. So, he handled it the only way he knew how. "Fine." he said as he pushed her off of his lap onto the couch and stood up. "You know what? You are just a stupid whiny Gryffindor!! I can't believe I thought that we could actually be friends!! You are a whiny MUDBLOOD!!! And you don't deserve to have anything with a Pureblood like me!! I can't believe that I have been so blind. Maybe my dad is right. All Muggles and Mudbloods are just filthy and worthless!!" He yelled before stomping to his room and slamming the door.

Hermione, who had been taken by surprise by his sudden outburst, sat there for a few seconds with her mouth open as his words sank in. When it finally hit her she began to cry harder than ever before. 'Oh god, oh god, oh god...' she thought as tears soaked the couch cushion below her. 'Ron thinks I betrayed him and Harry is going to think the same. And now Draco hates her and thinks that she is a filthy piece of trash. I am all alone.'

She sat there crying for several minutes before making a decision. 'I have to get out of here. I don't care what happens to me. My father can find me and kill me, I don't care. I just have to get out of here.' she thought as she got her things together and trued to figure out where to go.

When she stepped outside, she saw a big, brown barn owl flying towards her. It landed on her shoulder and held out it's leg. Hermione took the letters and petted the owl a couple of times before it took flight. She looked down at the letters and saw that they were hers and Draco's Hogwarts letters. She opened hers and read...

Dear Miss. Granger,

I am pleased to inform you that you have been selected to remain a prefect this year, but we have decided to change some things around about the way that prefects are situated. So, we are going to have a meeting in Dumbledore's office directly after the feast on September the 1st.

Enclosed is a list of books you will be needing for this term.

Deputy Headmistress,
Minerva McGonogall

Sixth Year students will be needing the following books for this year.....

Hermione looked up from her letter and thought about it for a minute. 'I guess I will at least have something to take up my time now that I have no friends.' she thought sarcastically as she sat down her stuff and went into the kitchen and sat Draco's letter and her envelope down on the table. She scribbled a quick note on the back of hers before stuffing her letter and book list in her pocket and walking outside once again. 'I will just go to Hogwarts a little early. Maybe I can get to Harry before Ron does.' she thought as she determinably walked to the road where she would take the Knight Bus to Hogwarts.

Draco was pissed. 'How could she do that to me? I allowed her to like me and I even let myself open up to her!! I can't stay here anymore. I am going to go...somewhere! Plus, school starts in a week. I can just go there or rent a hotel or something.' he decided as he too gathered up his stuff and then waited for a little while. After a while of silence, he walked out into the living room and took a quick glance around. Hermione was no where to be found. He quietly sat his stuff down and tip-toed to her room to see if she was asleep. When he got there, however, he found that the room had been cleaned out and Hermione was nowhere to be seen. 'She left?' he wondered as he looked in the rest of the house. When he got to the Kitchen he saw the letters sitting on the table. He saw that they were his and Hermione's Hogwarts letters. Except Hermione's was empty. Then, he saw that there was writing on the back of hers.

Malfoy,

I am only writing to tell you that I am leaving. ( not that you care or anything) I am going to go to school early. I also wanted to say that this summer never happened. After this moment I am never going to think about you again and I am going to continue hating you just like I always have. I refuse to let you hurt me anymore, so please feel free to continue calling me what you will. It will fall upon deaf ear. I don't care about you and I don't need you or anyone else for tat matter. Goodbye forever, Granger

'Fine. I don't care about what happens to her anyway. I'll just stay here. As long as she is not here, I see no reason for me not to stay.' he thought before stuffing his letter into his pocket and going to put his things back in his room.