A/N: Again with the delay, I just write when I get chance and im working too much at the moment to do anything other than sleep but I felt like updating so here I am… hope you like.

Chapter 6: Back to the daily grind

Things at the school seemed to mill on by as usual, or as usual as things ever got in that place, Neville was reduced to a blithering mess after yet another potions lesson and Hermione was called a 'know it all' three times in one class by Snape. Draco and Hermione had not actually discussed what happened at his house out loud but they both heard the other thinking about it and bounced ideas back and forwards, Hermione point blank tired to ignore Draco's thoughts in lessons. However, he did eventually wear her down in to helping him in some lessons but that was about it. They couldn't talk through out the day in person so they talked in there own way in the great hall. Hermione found her self smiling more and more when listening to Draco in her head. She assumed she looked strange smiling and giggling to herself but in the end she didn't really care, she knew it made Draco happier to see her smiling, not looking directly at him, but smiling non the less at something he had said to her, or implied in what he said and that was all that really mattered.

They had been back a week from the Manor, and they had been snowed under with school work, Hermione had practically done all hers when Draco came in to the common room one evening.

"Hey, where've you been? Are you ok?" She asked in mild concern, he didn't look happy, but then he didn't look hurt either.

"Im fine." He replied.

"Ok, what's wrong?"… "Draco, 'fine' means there is something wrong, no one ever says 'im fine' when they actually are fine, if you thought you were going to get away with that then…" She added when he looked at her confused, apparently thinking he had already answered that question. (Clearly he was wrong)

"Nothing, really, it's… just…" He trailed away.

'Oh how can I make her understand, I mean it's my mother, I have to go back, I cant leave her there any longer, Merlin knows what he is doing to her while she is so weak. It tears me up just to think of her, im going back, but how do I tell her im going alone, really alone this time?'

'No your not'

"Hermione… you don't understand, I can't let you go back, and you don't know how much danger you would be in! You don't know my father, I know you think it'll be ok, but it won't, im not willing to lose you. Please understand I need you. I don't even know where I will take my mother. I just can't bear her being there any longer."

"Draco…"

"No, im not taking you back there, im not, its my house, he's my asshole of a father, he can do what he likes to me, but you…" he grimaced "I cant stand the thought" He smiled sadly at her, begging her to understand he needed her, but he needed to come back to her, not have her in that kind of danger.

"Im fed up of this argument. We had it before, and this will end up the same way. She muttered a simple spell"

"What was that?" Draco looked confused; he had felt a tingling all over his body and was sure Hermione had muttered something.

'Promise you won't be mad?' She looked a little nervous now

'Depends on what you have done… im not going to hurt you Hermione, did you put a spell on me so ill turn blue if I leave the castle without or something?'

"No, I put a spell on you so that you cant be more than 10 meters away from me at any time" She said in a little bit of a rush.

"What? Why?… Hermione, you did this so I can't go unless I take you?"

"Draco I know that you think you're saving me, but it's my choice, I wouldn't go if I didn't think I could handle it. It's not about you saving me; it's about me saving you." She said looking in to his eyes.

"Im not saving you im protecting you so I don't have to save you" He said staring right back at her.

"I DON'T NEED YOU TO SAVE ME, OR PROTECT ME! I CAN LOOK AFTER MYSELF, I ALWAYS LOOK AFTER MYSELF. YOU DON'T GET IT DO YOU? I DON'T NEED YOU TO SAVE ME! I DON'T WANT YOU TO SAVE ME!" She screamed at him, as she said it tears rolled down her cheeks; tears of pain and sadness, but also tears of repression. She had been threw a lot for a girl of her age and she had coped with it, she had built up the tell tale walls of a person who couldn't handle anything else, who had to protect themselves and there heart from anything and everything trying to hurt them and therefore when someone else spoke of saving them, as Draco had done to Hermione, in this sweeping reference, it hurt that someone had the audacity to tell them they couldn't cope alone, they couldn't do it for themselves, that she couldn't do it for herself, that she needed someone… that she needed him. She couldn't cope with that thought, because in her mind she had begun to accept his presence and she had become accustomed to his voice in her head, she truly didn't want him to leave. She was opening up to the possibility of accepting that she might need him, but admitting that to him was a different matter altogether and that she wasn't ready for.

Draco looked at her stunned. He knew that wasn't about being left behind. But what it was about he had no idea. She was standing there in front of him tears pouring out of her eyes, trembling all over, she was scared, she'd just let him see her weakness. She was scared, sacred of what she'd said, sacred of what she'd been threw, scared of needing someone, scared of him. In a split second she just looked at him and bolted. She ran straight towards the door. He reached his arms out to grab her. He didn't forcefully hold he down but he made sure she couldn't escape, she needed to talk this threw, whether she wanted to or no it was important to get it off her chest, get it out of her. She struggled in his grip pushing and shoving him away, all the while yelling for him to let her go, for him to give it up, let her run. It was hurting him to see her in this way, she was so strong a person, she clearly just wanted to run away from whatever it was that had made her this way, she couldn't face it, and she didn't care, all she cared about was running, running until she could bury it deep in her mind where it couldn't hurt her.

She began hitting Draco, she was so emotionally worn out that it didn't really hurt him she was thumping her fists against his chest begging for him to release her. He just held her, a strong constant in the swirling madness in her mind. Eventually she was out of energy and she broke down in his arms, falling to the floor weeping. His heart broke to look at her, so defeated. What had happened in her mind he couldn't work out, she had been screaming so loud he couldn't make out her thoughts and her words.

He put his head against hers slowly and said "let me in" quietly in to her ear.

She pulled back a little and looked in to his eyes. He was asking her to break down the walls, to let him see her so vulnerable, so broken, so naked. He was asking a lot, but in that moment she was too weak to fight it, to weak to hold him out, and she couldn't hold herself up anymore, she needed to tell him. She connected their heads again, only what Draco saw and felt this time were different. He felt the pain of every time someone had left her, everything she had been threw, her mother, her father, his father, everything she had had to cope with and he could see her hardening her heart in the images flicking threw his mind, he could feel her pushing the world away to save her from more pain. He could feel her becoming the frightened little person in front of him, but he watched her hide it. He was crying again by the end of her 'explanation' He knew what it had meant for her to 'let him in' he knew what she had been threw and why im so carelessly saying he wanted to protect her, he wanted to save her meant so much and so little all at once.

If you have been let down by everyone who had ever been there for you, if you had lost everything that made you understand the world, and what you believe and everything that had been there as long as you could remember just left, and you had had to go threw so many things that made you want to die inside and all you longed for with every fibre of your being was to be held by someone strong enough to stand the tests your life threw at you, someone who wouldn't walk away, who wouldn't leave you when things got hard. You would be that pile of mush on the floor. When they opened there eyes Draco embraced her, holding her for time unmeasured. He didn't move, he just held her tight, he let her cry, he let her talk when she felt she could and he simply stayed with her. That day meant more than Hermione could express to anyone, she had felt safe, she had felt something, other than pain and somehow she knew that Draco was telling her he wasn't going anywhere, though he never thought it or said it, that would have made it a promise, and promises are broken. His heart simply embraced hers and reassured it.

When Hermione finally moved her head to look at his there was nothing to say, although they had been silent for hours everything had been said. She looked deep in to his eyes which were swirling pools of deep blue and flex of pale and sea blue and closed her eyes reaching up and gently grazing her lips against his, lightly pressing he lips in to his as she felt him pushing back. It was a beautiful moment and one neither of them would forget. Draco's hands moved to the small of her back and she put her arms around his neck slowly moving in to a deeper kiss. There was no lust no pressure, no intentions behind the kiss other than there true feelings for one another.

They spent that night laying in each others arms by the fire just bathing in each others presence, dipping in to each others thoughts and memories, holding each other and comforting the other lost, broken soul.

A.N Ok so I realise it's been a while n im sorry but this chapter was really hard to write for me emotionally. I hope I convey it all well to you please review.