A/N: No real authors note here, but I will reply to some reviewers! By the way, I thank you all for reviewing.
miss black eyeliner x0: Thanks! I'm happy you liked it so far! Yes, I too hate Lucius, but he makes a great character. I guess even evil characters can be bad. I appreciate their strong characteristics.
pookie pie: Haha I might sound like a loser, but are you Canadian? I noticed your spelling in honour! Lol!
superuki: Well, lucky us, this is a longer chapter haha. Rude? How So? Oh well.
Ruby Felton: Oh why thank you. Cliffies; Hate to love them, love to hate them.
Nirvana-girl22: Draco may have a bad day, but his hair is always perfect, no? Poo, lucky him! XP
Chapter Twenty Two: Bye Bye Boyfriend
Recap:
"Drake!" a voice that was clearly panting came. Everyone turned their attention to the exhausted Blaise hovering above them. It looked as though he had just ran five miles.
"What is it, Blaise?" Draco looked up, worried. Blaise usually held his composure quite well, but he now had a fierce worry in his eyes that scared even Draco.
Blaise heaved in a huge breath before muttering with all his energy, "Your father – he's here."
Chapter Twenty Two:
"What?" Draco exclaimed as everyone seemed to rise to their feet simultaneously.
Blaise, obviously annoyed that he had to talk more, but overall worried, continued, "He knows – breath – about – breath – you and – breath – Hermione! He is really pissed off."
A dark and dangerous look clouded Dracos eyes as he began to walk towards the castle, followed by Blaise. Hermione was quick to accompany them, but Harry pulled her back.
"Hermione, he knows. He's dangerous. Until Lucius is gone, you should hide out somewhere," Harry replied gently but firmly.
Hermione sighed, desperately wanting to follow Draco. Each one of her friends looked very worried about her. Ron spoke up, "How about we go to the common room and wait until Malfoy gets back with information?"
"That sounds like a good idea," Ginny agreed. They all started to walk to the common room. Krum kept his wand at hand as did Harry and Ron. Ginny and Hermione looked around and conversed during the journey. When they walked into the common room, Hermione started up some tea while the others sat on the sofa. They talked about general things, as to have Viktor not feel left out, but the conversation was always on the edge.
After what must have been at least an hour, Draco marched through the door, thoroughly distressed. The look on his face was one that only his father knew how to weave. Draco didn't even greet his guests as he strode across the room quickly and headed straight for his dormitory. The whole group of people watched his every move, studying him for any hint of what happened. About a minute after Draco had barged in, there was a knocking at the door. Everyone's eyes perked up as they eyed the door.
"I'll get it," Ron said cautiously. He lifted himself off the sofa and walked to the door. He opened it only to find the even more so exhausted Blaise, heaving as he stumbled into the room. Although this was a tense time, Hermione found humor in Blaises constant lack of energy. He walked into the room and started for Draco's.
"No," Hermione said. Blaise turned around to face her.
"But I need to-,"
Hermione shook her head, "I will talk to him." She got up and went into Draco's dormitory leaving Blaise to take her seat, much to Viktor's dismay.
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"Draco?" Hermione asked in a gentle voice as she shut the door with as little noise as possible. She didn't get an answer exactly, just an unreadable grunt from the corner where Draco was sitting on a black sofa chair. "Draco?" she said again. Hermione walked over to him and knelt down infront of his legs. His head was in his hands which rested on his knees. His fingers were tangled in his hair and, even though Hermione couldn't see them, she could tell his eyes were closed.
"Draco, tell me what's wrong?" she tried again, resting a hand on his leg. Draco shook his head but answered her anyways.
"He knows. He knows everything. What am I going to do?" he rambled in heavy breaths. He wasn't crying, but his breathing seemed to match someone who had cried just before.
"What is there to do? Why do you have to do anything?" Hermione asked in a comforting way, hiding her true confusion. 'What is he talking about?'
"Don't you get it, 'Mi?" he stressed, "This isn't some silly 'tell-your-father-you're-marrying-a-guy' thing that you girls have to go through. My father isn't going to get mad and then deal with it. He wants to kill you." Draco shook his head some more as if to remove thoughts from it. Hermione looked wide-eyed at him. His father wanted to kill her. It's not like she didn't expect it, but it meant so much more coming from her terribly upset boyfriend.
Hermione placed a finger under his chin and used it to lift his head to face her. "Draco, what did he say?" Draco's eyes widened a bit.
"I can't tell you," he said, practically afraid to. Hermione looked at him lovingly.
"You can tell me anything," she whispered softly. Draco looked at her with disappointment in his eyes. He loved her so much. He never wanted to see the face she would have if he told her what his father had told him.
"It's not that I can't. I don't want you to hear the things he said about you," he said as his eyes got moist and he touched her cheek. He kissed her forehead. "I'm going to sleep for a while. Don't let me keep you from your friends, but when they leave, come in here with me, okay?"
"Of course," she replied, kissing him sweetly before departing. She left him in the room despite her desire to comfort him and hug him until he fell asleep. Seeing someone so emotionally strong being so distraught made her worry. She loved Draco and hated seeing him like this. Nevertheless, she headed down stairs.
"Hermione, what's going on?" Harry asked for himself and the others.
Hermione sighed and squished in between Ron and the end of the sofa. "He won't tell me much, but he said his father wanted to kill me." Everyone's face faded into a grey misery at the thought.
Ginny looked at Blaise. "You were there, weren't you? What happened?"
Blaise had a panicking state dancing in his eyes. "I listened from outside the door of the classroom they were in, but after a while I heard nothing. The things I did hear, I'd rather not repeat."
"We need to hear it, Blaise!" Harry exclaimed. Blaise shook his head, reminding Hermione of Draco's reaction. "No, I won't. The things I heard were purely skin eating and wouldn't help anyways. I'd rather not say it." Harry noticed Blaise's emphasis on the word 'say' and decided to take that as a hint. He looked at Blaise, who looked back at him. Harry started to perform Legimency on Blaise. Blaise made sure to only let Harry see the first part of what he heard, leaving out the commands Lucius had made. Harrys head soon filled with the words that sent his mind into a disturbed state. Before saying anything, Harry fled the room without an explanation.
"What was that all about?" Ron sputtered, looking at the door that Harry had just slammed.
Ginny, who looked worried about Harry, replied, "I don't know, but it's getting close to dinner time. We should get going, Hermione."
"Sure, I understand, guys. I'll probably see you at dinner," Hermione spoke. Ginny and Ron exited, leaving only Blaise and Krum.
"I'll see you later, Hermione," Viktor whispered as he hugged her tightly before leaving. Then it was just Hermione and Blaise. Blaise, who still looked disturbed, hugged Hermione. She was shocked and didn't do anything before she came to her senses and hugged him back.
Before letting her go, Blaise breathed in her ear, "Promise me you'll listen to your heart, not words. Promise me."
"Okay, I will," Hermione complied silently and very confusedly before letting him go. He waved before he left and Hermione headed for Draco's room.
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Draco's POV:
Hermione left my room and I stayed sitting on my chair. I know I said I wanted to rest, but I couldn't imagine sleeping after what happened.
Flashback:
I walked into the castle and to the Dungeons. Anyone who knew my father knew that he wouldn't be caught walking amongst any students, especially those who weren't Slytherin. I didn't bother myself with how he got into Hogwarts. I was quite sure Dumbledore would have let him in. Either way, he was here. I scanned the classrooms and found nothing. Suddenly, I was pulled into the last classroom I had just looked in by some kind of force.
"Draco," I heard a voice call from a corner. My father stepped out of the pitch black shadow of the corner and took five steps as if circling me. "Are you going to explain this all to me?"
I knew he was talking about Hermione. "Father, I can explain. Pansy and Victoria have lied to you about many things, which they will pay for. First of all, I am not going out with Granger. A simple bet was made that I was to woo her for 100 gallons. Unfortunately Pansy and Victoria mistook it as some outrageous relationship, and foolishly reported it to you. You of all people should know that I would never fraternize purposely with a mudblood so filthy even for her own kind, not to mention impregnate her! That's disgusting. If she got pregnant it was because of some filthy mudblood boy."
My fathers face did not change, but then again, did it ever? "You had better not be lying to me, Draco because I have so many ideas on what I could do with that piece of filth if infact you were not telling the truth." He walked closer to me and stood about a metre ahead. "First, I'd drag her to the Manor by her hair. I'd take her to the dungeons where I would get my fellow death eaters to come and rape her repeatedly. Then I would perform unforgivables on her until she screamed for me to kill her. I would scar her with leather whips as she sat on very small needles so that she would almost die of blood loss. Then I would heal her and do it all over again. I'd take knives and slice her skin before pouring acid on it. I'd beat her until her face was bruised and as dirty as her blood. I would then kidnap her parents and bring them to the dungeons where I would cut their throats right infront of her, and then lay their bodies near her, just enough so that she couldn't touch them. I'd chain her to a wall and rape her again with unthinkable objects as the other death eaters peeled off bits of her flesh. I would have the Dark Lord himself come and taste her before burning her flesh with a mudblood marking. After all that I would have you come in and watch him rape her before I made you whip her and, finally, kill her."
I felt like crying, but I didn't show any emotion. One advantage about being a Malfoy and living with a Malfoy was learning how to hide your feelings and deal with situations such as this.
"Am I making myself clear, Draco?" my father asked me, eyeing me for any change in my face.
"Crystal," I replied, looking my father straight in the eye. It was a technique Lucius had taught me. They can't say you're lying if you're looking them right in the eye.
Lucius wasn't done yet. "I want you to dump this Granger girl, destroy her cling to you. By next week I want to hear that she was crushed by your breaking words. Infact, try to make it public. I don't want anyone suspecting that you have any form of a relationship with her. And don't try pulling any stunts."
"Yes, father," my monotone oblige came.
"Do not disobey me," Lucius hissed before vanishing.
I steadily exited the classroom and walked down the hall. Once I had turned the corner I slammed my fist into the wall.
End of Flashback.
My eyes got watery, but I didn't let them fall. I blinked them back and thought of how I would tell Hermione. It hurt to even think about hurting her in anyway. The image of her crying sent a protective shiver down my arms. How was I supposed to crush her? She'd hate me. I couldn't just tell her it was all fake. It just wouldn't work. She wouldn't be depressed. She'd still look at me. My father would find out, I had no doubt.
Knock, knock
I looked at the door, seeing the shadow of feet peeking out from the bottom. They were too small to be a guy's, so unless Ginny had the sudden hots for me, it was Hermione.
"Come in, Hermione," I said, dreading every second that passed.
"Oh, I thought you'd be asleep," she said as she closed the door softly. "How's it going?" she asked, walking over to me and sitting in my lap.
"It's alright," I mumbled as I picked her up and brought her to my bed, causing her to giggle. "Sleep with me tonight?"
"I'd love to," she smiled as she lay down and snuggled into my chest.
"I love you, Hermione," I told her as she looked into my eyes with a pleasant grin on her face. "Always remember that I love you, no matter what happens."
"I will. I love you too, Draco" she said as she kissed my chin and rested her head against my chest once more. Her words ached inside me. Soon, she wouldn't love me, and I'd never hear her say my first name again.
End of Draco's POV.
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Draco woke up with a warm body against him. He smiled looking down at the beautiful girl in his arms. He kissed her forehead and stroked her messy morning hair which he had grown to love. He looked up at the clock and noticed that classes started in two hours.
"Hermione, wake up," he whispered softly as he kissed her ear.
"Hmm, Draco," she mumbled, only half conscious.
Draco laughed at her disordered state. "Classes are starting in two hours." Hermiones head immediately sprang up as the covers slid off the upper half of her body.
"Why didn't you say so!" she bluttered as she rolled out of bed, the sheets dragging with her as they were wrapped around her leg. "Oh dear," she said as she kicked them off. "I'm going to take a shower now!"
"Alright, tell me when you're done" Draco called back to her as he rolled over in his bed. It was going to be a long day.
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Draco's POV.
This was it. It was now or never, and never wasn't really an option. I was walking towards the Great hall hand in hand with the woman I loved and wanted to be with. The ironic thing is that she was also the woman I was never suppose to see again. My deep breaths did nothing to sooth the tension that only I obviously felt. Maybe I was sweating, because the person attached to my hand noticed something.
"Is something wrong, Draco?" Hermione asked, looking into my eyes and squeezing my hand gently.
I shook my head, avoiding her eyes, "No, I'm fine."
I hated what a lie that was. In the minute it took us to walk closer to the Great Hall doors, my mind wandered to everything I hated. I was so messed up. I hated my pure blood, my father, my house, peoples expectations of me, my reputation, my life, and my duties. I wanted to turn back right now, pick up Hermione, and run far away from all humanity – but this was reality.
We pushed open the doors and our normal behavior flashed through my mind. Usually we would share a kiss before hugging and separating to their different houses. Everyone was just about use to it by now. They were almost there, almost at acceptance, and my father had to blow it.
Hermione turned to me and came closer for a kiss, but I stood there like a statue. "Draco?" her sweet, confused voice sent a hard blow to my stone cold wall. I look at her with cold eyes, insisting that my begging tears stay hidden. By this time, everyone was looking at the change in our usual actions. "Draco?" Hermione asked again, this time with a hint of worry as I kept staring into her eyes. It was like I was trying to tell her that I wouldn't mean anything that was about to happen and that I loved her just by looking into her eyes, yet while I tried this my eyes still remained cold.
"Shut up, Granger," I said sharply, drawing all attention in the large room towards us. This was like the few seconds that people used to register the moment before gasping, except this time the moment was being stretched out as they hung on my every word. "You're so annoying."
"W-what? Draco!" Hermione stuttered with her astonished face. She looked like she wanted to send an insult back, but she didn't. I knew it was because she loved me. I hated it. For once I wish she would just hate me so it wouldn't hurt so much; so that I wouldn't hurt her so much.
"Listen, I can't stand you anymore! You're boring, you're ugly, and I don't even know what I ever saw in you! Did you put a spell on me or something because it sure as hell is wearing off!" I spat loudly so that even the people in the far corners could hear. I couldn't bear to look into Hermione's eyes so I tried to focus my eyes on her nose.
"What are you saying? I didn't put a spell on you! What has gotten into you?" she yelled, still not believing what was happening, but at the same time getting mad at the whole situation.
"Sense has gotten into me, and I'm saying it's over."
She huffed in frustration. I was ready for whatever she had to throw at me. I loved how she got mad and flushed, but I had to push all those thoughts aside.
"You listen here, Malfoy. You are such an infuriating, egotistic, insensitive prick! I don't know what the hell has come over you, but I don't care. If that's how you want it, fine. You can die for all I care!" She rambled furiously with a fire flickering in her eye.
Her last statement felt like a brick had been thrown at my stomach. How could she say that? Did she mean it? My stone cold wall felt weaker than I thought it was.
"Whatever, mudblood," I said, replying with the one word I knew would hurt her most. The minute I said it the whole room finally gasped as I saw a brunette and a redhead stand up with their wands pointed. I quickly whipped out my wand and pointed it back at them, all the time still keeping my eyes on Hermione.
"Keep your big mouth and small dick to yourself, Ferret," she said before turning around and stomping off. I couldn't believe she brought sex into this.
I smirked and spoke confidently, "You'll miss them both." With that I walked over to my table, hearing Hermione grunt loudly in anger before sitting in between Harry and Ron, I mean Potter and Weasel. Viktor Krum tried to comfort her, but she waved him off. I sat down to the applause from my house and the glares from every Gryffindor. I stabbed my breakfast with my fork a couple of times and only took a few bites.
End of Dracos POV.
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Blaise had witnessed the whole scene as he sat at the far end of the table. After Draco had sat down, he went over and sat down beside him.
His voice was a very hushed whisper. "Are you alright?"
Draco looked up to see his good friend and replied, "Yeah."
Of course, they both knew he meant 'no'. They both took a quick look over to the Gryffindor queen. On the outside she looked angry, but her eyes showed that she was ready to break down. Harry's protective arm was around her and Ron was rubbing her back while Ginny attempted to say soothing words. It obviously wasn't working because Hermione got up and fled the Hall, followed by Harry.
Draco watched the boy wonder follow his now ex-girlfriend in fear. He still remembered how rough he could turn, but Draco couldn't do anything. Blaise patted his back and forced him to drink some pumpkin juice. Draco glanced at Ron. Ron just shook his head with a glare and went back to talking with Ginny. The surprising thing was that Draco actually felt like he had let someone down.
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Hermiones POV.
How could he do this to me? I loved him. I loved him! Everything happened so suddenly without warning that I was having a very hard time soaking it in as I ran towards the Astronomy tower. It was insane. Yesterday he was telling me he loved me and today he was questioning what he ever saw in me, and right infront of the whole school!
I ran as fast as I could and collapsed against the wall in the Astronomy Tower. I started bawling my eyes out into my knees as I tried to push everything I had just heard far, far away.
"Hermione, please don't cry," I heard a voice from above me. I looked up to see Harry sitting down next to me and wrapping a snug arm around my shoulder.
I immediately broke down all over again and started sobbing into his shoulder. For a few seconds I wanted to leave my life so that I didn't have to feel anything, so that my body could deal with the situation without my mind having to stress over what was happening. I was almost there when Harry shook me and kissed my forehead.
"Stay with me, 'Mione," Harry soothed as he rubbed my back, "It's okay. It will be alright. You're better than him. You don't need him." His strong words seemed to help as I buried my head into his chest making my vision go black. I dried my wet cheeks on his shirt and looked into his caring eyes. I was so lucky he had came and calmed me or else I don't know what I would have done.
"Thanks, Harry," I said as I gave him a hug. He hugged me back and we sat like that for a while.
I jumped as I heard the door open only to find Draco at the door.
End of Hermione's POV.
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Draco's POV.
After I finished my breakfast which I really wasn't in the mood for, I exited the Great hall with the happy Slytherin faces nodding me farewell. Right now I wanted to be alone to plan my next steps towards… basically anything. I honestly had no idea what I was going to do now. It would be awkward going to the common room because Hermione might be there. I couldn't go to the library because she could very well be there too. I also couldn't go outside because not only was it cold be she could… well, you get the point. I ended up walking briskly to the astronomy tower where people barely went. I just couldn't get there fast enough as I didn't want to look like an idiot running to nothing. Finally I got to the door. I thought I heard a voice from inside, but I ignored it. I assumed it was a ghost, and I couldn't just tell a ghost to leave, so I continued.
The minute I entered the room I immediately saw to things I hated; a crying Hermione – and Harry.
"What the hell is going on here? Get off of her, Potter!" I exclaimed as if it was a reflex.
Hermione gave me one of the dirtiest looks I had ever gotten before standing up and bringing the stunned Potter up with her. She walked up to me and slapped me, leaving me astonished.
"Piss off, Malfoy. You no longer have a say in what I do," she spat at me. I could almost smell the venom dripping out of her lips as she turned and left with the wonder boy following behind her. I quickly ran after her, causing her to sprint to our heads room.
We ran for a while before I saw her mumble the password and run in as Harry went in soon after. I came in panting only to see Harry banging on Hermione's door.
"Hermione! I'm worried about you!" he yelled to her as she refused to open up. I went over and pulled him away from the door.
I pushed him outside and yelled, "Get out!" before slamming it in his face. I walked back up to Hermiones door and looked at it disappointedly. "Granger, please come out." I hated using her last name. She didn't answer me. "Granger!" I shouted in frustration. I didn't hear anything at all. I was getting worried and I knocked.
"Hermione?" I whispered against the door, but to no use. I remembered her password that I had secretly overheard from before and decided that I was desperate.
"Something like love."
The door opened and I stood there petrified.
There infront of me lay Hermione, sprawled out on the floor looking completely unconscious.
A/N: So there it is. It's longer than most of my chapters, but I fit quite a bit in there. I hope you like it. Please review, I love it! Thanks a bunch, have a great day.