Chapter 3
Many months had passed as Hermione really did begin to avoid the man that haunted her dreams time and time again. It seemed that only the teachers could tell that something was off with the young girl. Her grades were dropping and her mind seemed to be ever wandering. Harry and Ron would not often bother her, for if they did she would begin to cry. Never ending tears would start to flow down her face. It got to the point that one day she was pulled off to the side, into her own common room that she shared with the one person who haunted her day and night.
"Ok Hermione! What in bloody hell is going on here?" Ron demanded as he looked at his best friend in front of him. Her eyes were blood shot and dark bags were clinging under her eyes. Her hair was frazzled and the normally smooth and straight hair was back to the way she had hated so many years ago. Her skirt was wrinkled and her shirt not tucked in.
Hermione did nothing but look at the ground as the tears begin to roll down her cheeks, splashing on the ground. Harry picked up her face and looked into the eyes he knew so long ago would sparkle and shine with laughter. They were now dark and emotionless, empty and alone. Things hadn't been the same since the incident many months ago.
Yes it would seem weird that Harry would know about such a happening and it took long before he would accept how his friend truly felt about his worst enemy. Long ago Harry had heard of this spell that Draco could cast among the female population at Hogwarts. He himself had seen Ginny suffer through much the same thing, and it killed him to see another person he cared deeply for hurt so badly.
Not even Hermione could see what the spell was truly doing to her until she heard it said so plainly to her ears.
"Hermione, I know you don't know this now but the reason you are so miserable is because…" He was never able to finish his sentence because Draco slammed the door open and saw Hermione with her head down, Ron looking like he was ready to kill and Harry trying to comfort the crying girl.
At first it felt great to Draco to hurt the one person, who could beat him unmercifully, at anything she wished. All the pride eventually turned into the one feeling he could not understand guilt. He couldn't eat nor sleep as he heard the "mudblood" crying to herself in her sleep at night. She didn't know he could hear her but he heard every sob and every sniffle that she produced during the night.
It was long before he realized what the feeling was that plagued him every night, and when he wanted to apologize for doing wrong he was stopped in some way or another, whether it was by a person or an event that had happened. His thoughts were interrupted as he felt himself being shoved to the ground and a fist making contact with his stomach. He felt dizzy, but quickly reciprocated as he punched Ron in the face and knocked him out.