Chapter 21-

Soon Draco was in a chair at Hermione's side. Hermione was sound asleep having taken a serious dosage of Dreamless sleep potion.

"I am soooo sorry Hermione! If you will just be okay I promise that I will never be mad at you again!" he muttered over and over again as he drifted off to sleep.

Draco woke up to a loud scream. He jumped out of his chair and scanned the room wildly for the source of the scream. When he found Hermione tossing and turning on the bed, covered in sweat, he immediately went to her side. He grabbed her hand and began whispering soothing words in her ear. When she started to settle down, he leaned down and gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead. Slowly, she began to open her eyes. She blinked a few times and weakly gazed at Draco's worried face.

"Calm down, 'Mione. I am here and I will never leave your side again. I promise." Draco whispered as he gently cradled her face in his hand. "I love you, Hermione."

Hermione's eyes widened a little as she licked her lips and tried to speak. "Draco." she whispered.

"No, don't talk. You need to rest."

Hermione shook her head and said, "No….water."

Draco obediently got up and fetched her water. He helped her drink some and waited patiently for her to speak.

"Draco…I-I…Almost….Died…"

Tears filled Draco's eyes as he listened to her pained words. "It's okay…."

"No, let me finish!" She interrupted him.

Draco nodded and waited for her to continue.

"I t-thought that you would h-hate me after what h-h-happened." Tears began streaming for her eyes and her body began to shake.

"What? What happened?" Draco asked, not sure what she was speaking of.

She gulped and continued. "The t-thing with R-Ron."

Anger filled Draco, but the look on her face calmed him immediately. "Forget about it. I forgive you for sleeping with him. I am sure that you were just caught up in the mom--"

Once again Draco was cut off by Hermione. "NO! I never wanted to sleep with him!" Hermione yelled, not wanting Draco to get the wrong idea. "H-he…I couldn't stop him…" She whispered, looking away.

"What do you mean? Did he…make you sleep with him?" Draco asked in complete shock.

"Don't be mad at him. It was probably my fault." Hermione replied urgently. "He probably thought that I wanted it."

"NO! DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT!" Draco yelled.

Hermione flinched away from his anger.

"Sorry." He said turning her to face him. "Look, I just don't want you to blame yourself for something that that MORON did!" Draco said, emphasizing the word moron. "Do you understand? This was not your fault!"

Hermione gave him a little smile and nodded. "Thanks." she whispered.

He smiled back and sat back down. Her took her hand and kissed it. "Now rest." he ordered.

Hermione nodded and closed her eyes, still holding Draco's hand.

A few seconds later Draco heard Hermione stir. She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Draco?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you too."

Draco nodded and gently kissed her lips. "Good. Now sleep."

"K. G'Night."

"Goodnight, my love."

Hermione smiled and drifted off to sleep, dreaming of her bright, safe future.

After Hermione had been sleeping for about an hour, Draco heard the Hospital Wing's doors open. Her turned to see who was there and was shocked to see Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley. Fury immediately swept through him and he jumped up from his chair letting go of Hermione's hand.

"Malfoy!" both boys yelled in alarm.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!" Ron yelled, stalking towards him.

"The better question is what are you doing here, you RAPIST!" Draco yelled back.

Ron stopped in his steps. "What are you talking about, Malfoy?"

"I am talking about what you did to MY girlfriend." Draco yelled back. "You RAPED her!" he yelled pointing at the still sleeping Hermione.

"I have never raped anyone!" Ron replied.

"That's a LIE!" Draco replied as he pulled out his wand and aimed it at the red head.

"I didn't rape Hermione!" Ron squeaked, panicking.

Harry, who had been standing there dumbfounded at the accusations, stepped forward. "Ron, what is he talking about? You said that she came onto you."

"She did…I thought…"

"You have no idea what you did!"

"What do you mean. It can't have been that big of a deal!" Ron yelled, tears in his eyes.

"No big deal? NO BIG DEAL! Do you have any idea what she has been through this last year!" Ron and Harry shook their heads. "Her mother died. Then, her father began beating and raping her! She ran away to her family's cabin. She found me, her worst enemy, dying and she took care of me. She forgot about all of her problems and took care of me! Then she came here and you two…you two were nothing but total jerks. She even staged this huge fight to get you two to be her friends again! Now, she's here! By the way, do you have any idea why she's here?"

Again, the boys looked ashamed and shook their heads. "Because she tried to kill herself. After you took advantage of her she thought that I would hate her and she decided that her life was no longer worth living!" he yelled, tears now streaming from his eyes. "Your stupidity almost KILLED her!"

Ron suddenly broke down. "I had no idea." he whispered.

Harry on the other hand, stood where he was in complete shock.

"Get out!" Draco suddenly yelled. Harry and Ron looked at him and he elaborated. "See you when she wakes up might frighten her. Now LEAVE!"

Harry then helped his friend up and they left the Hospital Wing. Draco wiped his tears away and took his seat next to Hermione once again.

Hermione suddenly opened her eyes and looked at Draco, whose head was hidden behind his hands. "Draco?"

He started and looked up. "Yes?"

"Thanks for that." she whispered. "I don't think that I could have faced him this soon, but I do believe him."

"WHAT?"

"I don't think that he meant it to be r-rape. I think that he was just lonely."

"WHAT? How could you say that? How could he not know that he was raping you?" Draco asked in total confusion.

"Because…"

"Because what?"

"Because I didn't say no…" Hermione whispered.

"What do you mean? Of coarse you said no. I mean, you didn't want to have…with him, did you?"

"No, it's just that when it was my dad, I just…l-let…it happen. It was less p-painful that w-way." she said, not meeting his eyes.

"Oh…"

"Don't be mad."

"No, no I'm not mad." he said, stroking her hair lovingly.

"Good, because I forgive him."

Draco opened his mouth to argue but ended up closing it and nodding. "Okay, but I am never leaving you in a room alone with him again!" Draco said with a smile.

"Okay, deal." she replied smiling brilliantly.

"Hermione, you are never going to have to worry about anything like that ever again! I will never let anyone hurt you again. You are stuck with me forever."

"Darn, I am stuck with my worst enemy, who I happen to be in love with, for the rest of my life, whatever shall I do?" she replied sarcastically.

"Yeah, and your going to like it."

"Yeah, can we get out of here now?"

"Not until Madame Pomfrey say it's okay."

Hermione stuck out her bottom lips and pouted. "But Draco. I wanna go now!"

"No, Hermione. Now, if you are good, I will go get Pomfrey and she can check you over."

"Fine."

"I'll be right back."

"K."

AN- That's all for now. Hope that you all enjoyed.

Hey Michele, I made Ron cry…hehehe…Atleast he isn't a jerko anymore! You know you love me!

Read and Review PLEASE!