AN: I AM SO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED SINCE FOREVER AGO! But never fear, I did not give up on this fic, for those of you who are still interested in reading it, another chapter is here, with another following it as soon as I see fit!
Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Draco felt terrible. For Granger that is, Weasley could rot in hell for all he cared. Most Slytherins even despised him for his actions and reactions. If you wanted to rape a Mudblood, become a fucking Deatheater then. You're a bloody Gryfindor, act like it, you fool.
Draco's mind wandered… Had Granger really gone insane? He prayed she hadn't. There was something about her, something that he liked. She had fight in her, more so than almost any girl he'd ever met. She had been determined to stay strong throughout this entire thing. To have her just breakdown like this at the mere one on one interaction she and Weasley had had, it just didn't seem characteristic of her. Maybe she was just stressed, maybe something else had happened that threw her off, or maybe she was fine, just resting, and the professors just didn't want to publicize the news, even to him, her savior.
He went over what he remembered about everything he had heard. Hermione, er no, Granger, standing, laughing, sobbing, yelling at an eerie looking Weasley, covered in feathers, fungus, wings, and colors. It all seemed so odd. So unlike everything he'd known about her. What happened to her calm, collected, and cool manner? Her follow the rules-except when necessary- attitude? Her charisma? Where had her library time gone? Where was the old Granger? The one who stood up for the little man, the house elves, the creatures who wouldn't be listened to? He laughed; her old self would have been perfect for a job at the Department of Magical Creatures in the Ministry. But now, nothing like that could even begin to be. The old Hermione Granger had been ripped away. Her old self had been raped away by a Ronald Weasley and a Seamus Finnigan. His slight smile turned to the familiar scowl the other students were used to seeing on his face, especially these days.
He couldn't stand it. How dare those two. How dare they flaw her. Flaw her in such a way that she had possibly become crazy. How dare Dumbledore? How could he not expel them? No punish them? How could he just leave the school during such a crucial moment in time? What was wrong with this place? For not the first time in his life, Draco Malfoy simply wanted to run away. To hide his face, to forget about what people deserved, to forget about his family life, to forget about Hermione Granger, to forget about school work. He wanted to simply forget about his life altogether and to run far away, maybe to some remote island, with some girl of his dreams. Instantly faces popped into his head. Models, whores he had seen wandering out of his father's bedroom, Granger, Parkinson…
Wait a minute? Granger? Yea right. He admired her determination and intelligence, sure, but for her to be the girl he'd want to run away with so he could live the rest of his life pleasurably carefree? As if. But somewhere his subconscious told him her face wouldn't have come into his head at that moment if he didn't think it was at all possible. However, he threw the thought away and dismissed it as his worries over her sanity and since he had been thinking about that before and she was female and he had seen her naked before, and he was thinking about women, that was all it could be.
Draco Malfoy was a confused man. Even maybe he was a confused boy. There were so many ways he could turn, and he wasn't sure which he wanted.
Hermione Granger was very much similar. Right now, as she lay in her bed barely conscious, there were many ways she could turn. She could choose to be the same as before she had passed out, laughing manically, hysterical with anger and misery. She could choose to be the same as before that, angry, depressed, and quiet, avoiding what needed to be faced. Or she could decide to become much stronger and resilient. She could become more determined to get over this, to see justice, and not vengeance. Hermione Granger was a bookworm, not a vigilante, and not a fool. She should know how to take care of herself. She should know how to behave and how to make herself and the world better. This behavior was uncharacteristic and she was going to force herself to stop it. Sitting there in her sleeplike state she realized it was alright to be upset with the situation, it was alright to be sad, depressed, and angry, but she knew who she was. It was not alright for some one like her to let it become her life. She was strong, she had fought beside Harry Potter and brave members of the Order, and she had defied Deatheaters. This was just another obstacle that she could overcome. And with all the power she had left in her she was not going to let this destroy her. The rape itself had done enough damage, and what she had just done was not going to help any.
Hermione Granger is an intelligent girl. Draco Malfoy is a witty boy. They are both confused men and women and they are both strong individuals.
AN: Whew I hope you all liked that, I know not much happens in there but it really does have a lot of information!
