A/N: I just want to thank all my reviwers and my fantastic Beta, Rivka! but I wanted to keep updating 

Draco woke up the next morning yawning exhaustedly. He'd had another nightmare last night…

FLASHBACK

Draco dodged another hex in the dark dungeon. His father was in one of his "moods" again. 'That wasn't good,' he thought as his father magically threw one of his mother's vases at him. Him not wanting any more pain, he ducked, letting the vase shatter against the wall.

Lucius was screaming something about traitorous Mudbloods and their domination over them.

Draco squared his shoulder and braced for impact as his father came towards him.

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!" He roared.

"YES SIR!" Draco yelled back, but his father struck him across the face with that blasted cane anyways. The hard stone floor rushed up to meet him…

END FLASHBACK

Draco flinched, he couldn't let his father find out about him and Hermione. He'd kill her, then him probably. 'Yeah me and Hermione…wait…Yeah I guess it is us," he thought to himself as his mind wandered over the past week…It had started out slow, when he had asked her to go on a walk around the lake with him.

FLASHBACK

The first thing she had asked him was – what had happened to change him in such a way—and that he had to have known she would ask him this.

He started out hesitantly, after making her swear, she would NEVER tell Pothead, or Weasel King…she did…

So he spilled, slowly but surely, as they made their way around the lake. He offered to continue his story over a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks.

When they arrived, he generously bought her a butterbeer and chocolate frogs for them. She had of course protested him paying for everything, starting to pull out her purse, but he stopped her, saying that it was a small part of his way of apologizing. She smiled and sat down next to him. She had almost choked on her butterbeer when he got to the part about his father's abuse.

She pulled out her wand and said "Revelio!" and wimpered as bruises popped up all over the face and body that made all the girls sweat. He grimaced at her horrified expression, her face pale as one of the Hogwarts ghosts.

"Hermione—" he started, but she "shhh'ed" him and pulled up his shirt to reveal not only Rock Hard abs, but bruises that stained them and his spinal cord.

"Recorus." She whispered, and the bruises disappeared. "Draco—"

"Hermione, no. I don't want your pity. Promise me you wont pity me, because I don't want it." He said softly but sternly. He saw a tear fall down her face, and he brushed it off with his thumb, and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. She smiled and laughed a little. They made their way back to the castle, talking about Hermione's summer in France, and holding hands as they walked up the steps. They said good bye with a squeeze of the hand and Draco leaned down and gave her a swift kiss on the cheek. 'Swift, but tender,' she thought as he left her outside the Great hall, with her cheek burning……

END FLASHBACK

They had been together ever since, pretty much. They shared everything with each other. They had fights sure, but for everyone else, fights were just normal between The Prince, and A Gryffindor Genius. He would call her a filthy mudblood, and she would call him an arrogant son of a bitch. He would yell and scream and so would she. But in every situation, both were so shamefaced and apologetic later, the make-up was worth it. Yeah, they weren't perfect, but they were Happy, so what else mattered?

A/N: very OOC I know, just tell me what you think! I promise there shall be much more angst than petty arguments in upcoming chapters whether you review or not, so u might as well!