The world spun and twisted as Hermione became aware of herself again. She opened her eyes then shut them tight again when she saw just how much the swirling shape of someone standing over her was spinning. She heard a voice but it made no sense. 'Where am I?' she thought but the answer wouldn't come. She was sore, everything hurt. She tried to take a deep breath but the pain in her ribs stopped her. The pain shot through her and woke her up. Her eyes slammed open and she sat up, her head collided with Ron's, adding to her misery,
"Ow," she cried, rubbing her eyebrow. She looked over as Ron sat back, rubbing a similar injury,
"I take it you're awake then," he grumbled. Hermione scowled and crossed her arms across her stomach, that hurt too,
"Shit," she hissed, lifting her arm away, "What happened?" Ron shook his head,
"I don't know," he looked up over her head, she turned to see Harry leaning heavily on an armchair, looking as bad as Hermione felt, "Etean," Ron continued, "he came out of nowhere," Hermione shut her eyes, replaying the events in her head. She was trapped, Ron had paralysed her, all she could do was watch as he took aim to torture Malfoy. Then Etean appeared, she remembered seeing him step out of the shadows. He blocked Ron's curse somehow, freed Malfoy then turned on Harry. Malfoy got up, she could see Etean and Harry standing at the end of each other's wands. Malfoy moved past her, she remembered looking at him as he picked up Ron's wand and aimed it at her. His eyes! She remembered his eyes as he looked at her, she had seen the anger and pain in them. For a moment, she thought he might kill her, but instead he released her from Ron's curse and told her to leave. The sound of his voice chilled her to the bone, she was going to say something to him but…her eyes opened,
"Did Etean knock me out?" Ron shrugged,
"No," Harry's voice sounded groggy as she turned to look at him, "I did," he looked at her from beneath his drooping eyelids,
"You did?" Ron barked, starting to sound angry again, Harry looked at him,
"I didn't mean to," he shut his eyes and rubbed his neck, clearly stiff, "I was aiming at Etean," he shrugged, "I missed,"
"You missed?" Ron stood and stepped round Hermione to get closer to Harry, "He was right in front of you wasn't he? How could you miss?" Harry lowered his head and rubbed his eyes,
"I don't know, he was right there. I was practically stabbing him with my wand. I fired the curse and he just wasn't there. He stepped aside and the spell," he looked down at Hermione, "hit you, sorry," he didn't sound sorry, Hermione felt anger boil inside her,
"Sorry?" she stood up, wincing in pain as her stomach complained, "That's it? You stun me and all I get is 'sorry'? You could sound a bit more concerned," he shook his head,
"I am concerned and I am sorry," it sounded more genuine this time but Hermione was too mad to care and getting madder by the second. Harry tried to stand up but fell back hard into the chair, he sighed in frustration and shook his head hard, trying to clear it, "If Etean hadn't dodged…"
"You would have hit him and not me," she interrupted, not bothering to keep her voice down, "Is that supposed to make it all better or something?" Harry shook his head,
"He shouldn't have been here in the first place," he looked around at the shadows and dark corners, "Where did he come from anyway?" He looked back at Ron, "We couldn't have missed him, could we?" Ron shook his head,
"No, I don't think so," he looked over to where Etean had appeared and frowned, "One minute he wasn't there, and then he was," he looked down at Harry, "You OK?" Harry nodded,
"I think I will be," he shook his head again, this time he managed to stand up but he was still shaky, "I don't know what he hit me with but it did the trick," Ron turned to her,
"How about you, are you alright?" Hermione looked into his eyes and felt dizzy as a wave of anger threatened to explode out of her,
"Am I alright?" her fingers closed into fists as she looked at him, "What the hell do you care?" he opened his mouth to respond but she didn't want to hear it. She raised her fists and ground them into her eye sockets, rubbing away the tears that were starting to form there. She turned away, she had to be alone. She needed to get away from them, both of them. She was sure if she stayed there, looking at either of them for a moment longer she would lose it completely. Pausing only to grab her bag from the floor she bolted from the room and ran towards the dorm. Behind her she heard them calling her name but she ignored them.
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The water poured over Draco, he reached out and turned the taps, increasing the heat and pressure of the shower. He lowered his head and watched the last of the snake's blood disappear down the plug hole. All he could think of was Hermione, and the kiss. He hadn't seen it coming, at the time he had had no idea why she had done it, and he hadn't cared. For a moment, all too brief a moment he had been happier than he had been since…well for as long as he could remember. He closed his eyes and licked his lips, certain that he could still taste her. The heat from the water poured over his face and stung his skin. Anger rose up inside him. He was angry at her for leading him into Potter and Weasley's little trap, and angrier at himself for allowing the belief, even the hope that there could ever be anything between them other than enmity to enter his mind.
He felt the anger surge inside him and he punched the wall. He felt the impact, not from his fist, the pain didn't register there, but the force of the blow travelled up his arm to jar his shoulder. Without opening his eyes he drew his hand back and punched again, and again. Over and over he slammed his fist into the wall until his shoulder ached so badly that he could barely lift his arm. He opened his eyes, the tile on the wall was broken and cracked, large chunks of it had broken free and lay scattered by his feet. Blood, his own blood he presumed was running down the wall, quite a lot of it.
Draco looked down at his hand, a large jagged chunk of tile was pretty heavily embedded in his knuckle. As he looked at it, he was surprised to realise that it actually hurt. He grasped it and pulled, it took some doing but he managed to tug it free. The metal exoskeleton over his knuckle was twisted and snapped, touching it hurt. He frowned as he realised that the pain he felt was from the metal, not his flesh. He shut his eyes, his dead flesh. Then he remembered, dead flesh could feel no pain. Looking at it, there could be no doubt, the wound on his hand was viscous, he could see down to the bone of his knuckle. It hurt, but nowhere near as much as it should. He actually laughed at the sensation of pain in his hand before the empty feeling in his gut sucked that away too. He stared at his hand, the cut looked really bad. He pressed his fingers into the skin around the wound, he could feel a piece of tile still inside. His knuckle was bleeding heavily and showed no signs of stopping. He squeezed it, trying to dislodge the remaining chunk, but only succeeded in stabbing the tip of his left thumb on a jagged corner of the exoskeleton. That did hurt,
"Great, this day just gets better and better," he stopped the water and stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel and wrapping it with some difficulty about his waist. Draco crossed the bathroom and turned on the tap over the sink to rinse the blood from his hand. He caught sight of his reflection in the mirror, the bruising around his ribs looked pretty bad, but not near as bad as it had been half an hour ago before he got into the shower. His body was healing fast, 'Shame my hand doesn't though,' he sighed and looked down at his hand again. He could just make out the hunk of porcelain under his skin. Thirty seconds of concentrated digging and pulling at his skin later and he managed to dig it out. The cut continued to bleed profusely, he picked up a hand towel and wrapped it around his forearm before leaving the bathroom and heading down the hall to his bedroom. Inside he saw Etean pacing, showing no signs of getting ready for bed. Crabbe or Goyle gave a loud snore as Etean turned to look at him,
"Feel better?" he asked, his tone sounded as flat and calm, Draco shook his head,
"Not really," Etean's eyes darted to the towel,
"What happened?" Draco looked down, apparently the few seconds it had taken him to travel the corridor were enough for the blood to soak through the towel. It had been white, not anymore. Draco paused to ensure that Crabbe and Goyle were out cold before he dropped the towel and held his hand up,
"I got in a fight," Etean laughed,
"I think it's safe to say the wall won," Draco shrugged,
"Looks that way," Etean pointed at his hand and twitched his fingers. A tiny flash of light shot out of his hand and engulfed Draco's, the wound vanished. Draco looked at it, even the metal fibres had been repaired,
"Thanks," Draco whispered as he lowered his hand. Etean turned and headed for the door, "Where are you going?" Etean shrugged,
"Nowhere, I just don't exactly feel like sleep at the moment," he moved to the side to pass by Draco, he raised his arm and stopped him, "What?" Etean asked quietly,
"I wanted to thank you," he frowned,
"You already did,"
"No, I mean for earlier," Etean smiled,
"Oh that, don't worry about it,"
"But if you hadn't arrived when you did…" Etean raised his fist and thumped Draco gently on the shoulder,
"Just doing my job Draco," he moved off, Draco stared at the floor,
"Still, thanks," he said but Etean had already shut the door behind him.
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"Hermione wait," Ron called after her for the hundredth time as she ran at full speed up the stairs, ignoring the aching pain in her chest and stomach. She didn't answer, didn't so much as glance back at him. She didn't stop or slow down until she reached the Fat Lady's portrait. She stood on the landing and hesitated, her mind was so messed up that she couldn't remember the password,
"Damn it, what is it?" she hissed to herself. Ron's footsteps were getting louder, he was nearly here, "What is the damned password?" she felt the tears start to fall again, the Fat Lady turned to her,
"I sorry my dear, that is what you are supposed to tell me after all isn't it?" Hermione looked up at her smiling face in confusion,
"What?"
"The password dear? You are supposed to tell me," Hermione wiped her eyes and shook her head,
"I know, I'm just thinking. Trying to remember it,"
"Well," she yawned, "try and hurry up dear so I can get back to sleep," Hermione, mind spun, trying to think straight,
"Hermione," she spun round as Ron arrived beside her, she drew back from him on instinct. He stopped, "Please listen to me, I want to explain…to say I'm sorry," Hermione gawped at him,
"You're sorry? For what?" she tried to make her voice sound hard, but it didn't sound hard enough. Ron stood there with his mouth open for a second before he answered,
"I'm sorry I hexed you. I…I don't know what came over me." Anger flooded over her, she advanced on him,
"You don't know what came over you?" she tried to make her voice sound even harsher as she felt the tremble in her lip, "You stupid bastard,"
"Hermione…"
"Don't," she raised a hand to slap him, but froze mid motion, too angry to move, "Just don't," her voice was shaking, her breath was ragged and stuttered, "I don't want to hear it. Rose petal!" she remembered the password. Ron seemed surprised by it until he saw the Portrait Hole open. Hermione spun on her heel and marched inside. Not waiting or pausing in the Common Room, she ignored Ron calling her and headed up the girls stairs to her room. She stopped outside her dorm with her hand extended at the doorknob, it was shaking. Her whole body was trembling with anger and, she realised, fear. She was sore, her chest ached and her stomach burned, her friends had hit her harder than she thought. Her fingers closed to a fist as she felt the tears start again, remembering what had just happened. The image of Malfoy in that chair filled her mind and tore at her heart. Had that thing hurt him? If it had it was her fault. She felt herself start to shake harder, she knew she was about to lose control of herself completely. She opened the door and darted inside, not bothering to undress before she hurled herself onto her bed and tugged the curtains closed, isolating her from the outside world.
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The sun had completely cleared the horizon before Hermione was aware of the room getting brighter. She was tired, her eyes stung with the tears she had cried. She had spent the entire night staring at the canopy over her bed, unable to sleep, barely even able to blink. Every time she closed her eyes she saw them, the two silver discs of Draco's eyes as he looked at her. His face had faded, she no longer saw anything but his eyes, but from them she couldn't escape. Like a moth to a flame they drew her in, stripped away her defences and left her nowhere to hide.
Hermione sat up, wincing at the pain in her stomach, the pain perplexed her. She pulled up her shirt to reveal her stomach and could just make out what appeared to be a wicked burn on her skin where Harry's curse had hit. She frowned, 'That's not right, it was only a stunner,' she thought to herself. Stunner spells hurt, they knocked you out and disorientated you, but the pain faded quickly and they weren't supposed to leave a mark. She turned and pulled back the curtains, grimacing in pain with the effort, her chest hurt too. Her trembling fingers struggled to undo her shirt. Lavender gave a loud snore and turned over in her bed, reminding Hermione that she wasn't alone. Somehow she didn't want Lavender, or anyone else for that matter to see any evidence of her injuries. She stood and grabbed her towel.
Once inside the bathroom, behind the locked door, she undressed, wincing at each movement. She pulled her robes off and dropped them to the floor as she started on her shirt. Once it was off, she surveyed the damage in the mirror, her mouth dropped open at the sight. The left side of her stomach was covered in a glaring red scorch mark. Deep red jagged lines spread out from it, contrasting harshly with her pale skin. The spot in the middle of her chest where Ron's paralysing charm had hit was hidden beneath nasty, purple bruise. It looked as if he had punched her instead of merely rendering her immobile. The pain in her stomach was worse but actually touching either spot hurt.
Confused, she finished undressing and stepped into the shower, careful not to touch her wounds as she washed herself. Feeling a bit better she stepped out of the shower and picked up her towel to dry off. She caught sight of her reflection in the mirror and froze. Something was wrong, her reflection didn't look right. It was her, but it wasn't. Hermione stepped forward and reached out to touch the mirror, suddenly startled when she realised that her reflection wasn't doing the same. The Hermione that was looking back at her didn't move, she just stared out from the glass, her expression was sad. Finally she reached up to touch the mirror in the same way that Hermione was. Hermione watched as a single tear spilled out of her reflection's eye and ran down her cheek. She dropped her towel and raised her hand to touch her face, it was wet from the shower but she wasn't crying. The face in the mirror continued to stare at her, it felt more and more like she was looking at someone else.
A knock at the door distracted her, she heard Pavarti call to use the bathroom. On instinct she looked over at the back of the door,
"Be out in a minute," she said and looked back to the mirror. Her reflection, her real reflection looked back at her. Whatever had been there was gone. Now the face in the mirror matched her movements just as a reflection should. Pavarti knocked again and shouted for her to hurry up, she scooped up her robes and dropped them into the laundry before wrapping her towel around her and opening the door,
"About time," Pavarti pushed past her, "You've been in here for ages,"
"Sorry," Hermione said automatically, her eyes drawn back to the mirror,
"Is something wrong?" Pavarti sounded confused,
"No…well maybe," she turned to Pavarti, "Have you ever seen anything…strange in that mirror?" Pavarti frowned and looked at the mirror. She smiled as she admired her own image, she frowned and shook her head,
"No, why?" Hermione shook her head,
"No reason, I must just be tired is all,"
"Oh right so," Pavarti paused and stared at her, raising her eyebrow,
"What?" Hermione asked, Pavarti sighed and pushed her back, inadvertently pressing her fingers into the bruise on Hermione's chest. With a lot of effort, she managed not to let the pain show. Once Pavarti had moved her outside the door she stepped back,
"Excuse me," she sighed and shut the door. Hermione shook her head and turned to head for her dorm. Ten minutes later, she was dressed and heading for the Common Room. Ron jumped to his feet and turned to her as she entered,
"Hermione," she heard him call but she ignored him. She avoided even looking at Harry as he too stood up. Putting her head down she blasted right past them, nearly running over Ginny on the way out of the Common Room,
"Ouch," Ginny exclaimed as Hermione accidentally trod on her foot,
"Sorry Gin," she stopped to make sure that she was alright, "I didn't see you there,"
"Really?" Ginny rubbed her ankle for a moment then stood up, "Where were you off to in such a hurry anyway?" Hermione shrugged, she tried to keep her voice even,
"Oh, just hungry I guess," she turned and headed off down the stairs. She knew Ron and Harry wouldn't be far behind her and she really didn't want to talk to them. Ginny bounced down the stairs to keep up with her,
"So, where were you all last night?" panic washed over Hermione. Did Ginny know?
"What?" she sounded a little more scared than she wanted to, Ginny raised her eyebrows in surprise,
"Well, you weren't with Harry and Ron, they spent most of the evening bent over a game of chess. And you weren't in your room, I checked there,"
"You were looking for me?" Ginny shrugged,
"No, not really, I was just at a loose end," she sounded a bit disappointed, "I thought we might hang out or something. Where were you anyway?"
"In the Library," it took all her effort to keep her voice even, "studying," Ginny seemed shocked, she acted it anyway,
"Studying? What is with everybody studying? Merlin's sake Hermione it's still September,"
"I have a project due on Friday," inside Hermione relaxed, this conversation she was used to having, "besides, this is an important year and I can't afford to be left behind," Ginny scoffed,
"Yeah, like that'll ever happen. You're top of your class Hermione. And besides, you say every year is important,"
"That's because they are, and if I am top of the class, it is only because I've worked hard,"
"Yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before Hermione so can you spare me," Ginny sighed, Hermione rolled her eyes. They continued down in silence until they reached the first floor landing. Hermione froze as she saw Etean enter from the dungeons. Millicent Bulstrode was fawning all over him. Beside her, she was surprised to see Ginny had stopped too, she was staring at Etean and Millicent with a strange expression on her face. Etean looked up as they continued down to the Entrance Hall, he was looking at Ginny but for a moment his gaze rested on her. She could clearly see the flash of anger behind his eyes for an instant before he buried it. She didn't blame him for being mad at her, she was mad at herself for what she had done but the look in his eyes startled her.
Etean turned his attention to Ginny, he smiled and waved Millicent off as he stopped to talk to her. Ginny scowled, not looking very pleased as she spoke to him, until he leaned in close to her and whispered something in her ear. She punched him playfully in the chest and barked out a laugh. Hermione watched as they continued to laugh and flirt with one another. After a moment she became uncomfortable, she felt eyes on her. She looked over to see Malfoy standing at the top of the dungeon stairs, looking at her. The same silver eyes she had seen all night drilled into her. He didn't move or speak, he just stood there watching her. Etean and Ginny moved off, Ginny either didn't know or didn't care that Hermione was no longer beside her. Malfoy stepped forward, walking slowly toward her. She could see the anger in his expression. Breathing became hard, she felt as if someone had sucked the air from her lungs. She wanted to apologise, to explain to him how much she regretted what she had done but the words wouldn't come out. He reached into his bag and pulled out a crumpled bundle of parchment,
"Here," his voice sounded hollow, she opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off, "Don't, I really don't want to talk to you," he shook the parchment, inviting her to take it, "This is all the notes and ideas I had for the remainder of our project. You'll understand that I don't want to spend any more time around you working on it but it is due on Friday and I can do without Vector breathing flames at me. So I suggest you finish the essay yourself and hand it in, I'll do the presentation," he stared at her, she opened her mouth again but he shut his eyes and ground his teeth, "Just do it Granger," he stuffed the parchment into her hand and marched off.
Hermione felt tears coming again, she shut her eyes and took a series of deep breaths to try and get herself under control,
"What did he want?" Ron's voice ground on her nerves, she opened her eyes and glared at him before turning to head into the Great Hall. She felt his hand close on her shoulder, "Hermione listen…" he called. She spun round, knocking his arm away,
"No Ron, just leave me alone will you?"
"Please…" he started, lifting his arms to grab her again, she batted his hands down and stepped back,
"I don't want to hear it Ron," he stared at her for a moment before she turned to leave. No longer hungry she headed out the doors and out into the grounds. She was halfway to Hagrid's hut before she remembered that she was still holding Malfoy's notes. His voice repeated inside her head, 'Just do it Granger,'…Granger, not Hermione. She was Granger to him again. The way he had said it was the same way he had always said it, like it was the worst insult he could throw at her. She had always hated hearing him say her name like that, it always sounded nasty. He had despised her for no good reason since they met, and she had been more than willing to return the favour. But recently things had been different, he was different. Something, something she didn't fully understand had changed in him. His mask of arrogant bravado didn't seem to fit him anymore, she could see the cracks. Spending time alone with him, she was certain that there were times when he let the act drop completely, letting her see the real Malfoy. The real Malfoy had managed to get past all the prejudices and actually start treating her like a person instead of something he had stepped in. He had even started using her name, her first name. Something he had never done before, and he hadn't used it like an insult. When he said her name, it sounded like he talking to someone he liked, someone he respected. Nothing she could think of could highlight the change in him any clearer than that.
And what had she done in return? Her fist clenched in anger, crushing the parchment into a tiny ball. She stopped and dropped down to sit on a large boulder and stared into the horizon. She had betrayed him, led him into a trap. She had stood there and distracted him to let Ron and Harry sneak up on him, she had watched as Harry set that monster on him. By the time she had worked up the courage to even try to stop them it had been too late. If it hadn't been for Etean, if he hadn't stopped him, Ron would have used the Cruciatus curse, the single worst torture imaginable, on Malfoy. If he had…if Etean had been one second later…She shut her eyes and blinked back the tears, fighting hard to stop her overactive imagination from running away with her.
The wind coming off the lake was cold, she shivered and checked her watch, it was nearly time for Transfiguration. She opened out Malfoy's notes and dropped them into her bag as she stood up and headed back to the castle. She sighed, at least attending class would give her something else to think about.
A/N: And we have passed the 100 reviews mark – yippee.
OK, some of you were apparently confused as to what actually happened at the end of the last chapter – you should get it now, but if not…sorry, you'll have to struggle on regardless.
Second question, how did Etean get there? … erm did you guys even read chapter 11? If not read it now, that should help you out.