A/N: Alright, I promise this'll be the last time I take a title, subtitle, or dialogue from a movie lol. I'm not even sure if this is the subtitle from Lord of the Rings but the credit will go to the writer J.R. Tolkin nevertheless lol.

Chapter 3: One Ring That Binds Them All

"So, are we alright now?"

Draco nodded, half smiling. "I'm okay if you are. Now my problem is that I'm going to have to stop calling you Granger and start calling you Hermione," Draco chuckled.

"You've done okay so far with calling me by my first name. So, umm...what do you want to do now?"

Draco shrugged, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Moments ago they had shared their deepest secrets with each other and now they were going on about as if they've been friends forever. It was an awkward moment until Hermione spoke.

"Are you hungry, Draco? You've been here for a day and I haven't even fed you."

He felt his stomach grumble and fight his organs inside. He smiled at her and then nodded. "Yeah, I'm a little hungry..."

"What can I do ya for? Do you want some toast, or pancakes, or eggs or anything? It's still a little early for lunch."

Draco didn't care what she made as long as it was edible. He shrugged and tried his best to keep his eyes staring at her own, but he couldn't stop glancing at her body. She looked more like a doorframe than an actual person.

"Toast and eggs sounds good."

Hermione smiled at him and headed towards the kitchen. Draco followed her and watched as she grabbed a pan out and sprayed it with oil before placing it on the stove. She grabbed the white bread out and popped it in the toaster before grabbing two eggs from the refrigerator and cracking it on the pan.

"So, what do you have planned today?"

"Well, there's only three more weeks until we go back to Hogwarts. Maybe we should go into London and get our supplies. I got my letter the other day," Draco announced.

"I got mine the other day as well. That's sounds good; we'll go today."

Suddenly, something else hit Draco. He just realized that her parents were nowhere to be found in the house.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but...where are your parents, Hermione?"

Hermione simply smiled, flipping the eggs over as the toast popped up.

"My parents are exploring Italy. They were complaining that Britain's too dull and small. I suppose they're right, but I don't understand why they have to go so far to find someplace nice to spend a few days in. I mean, they could've gone to the States. There's plenty of tourist stuff they could do there."

Draco laughed as she placed the two eggs, sunny side up, and the white toast onto the plate and buttered it.

"Have you ever been to the States?" Draco asked, curious.

"Once, I think. When I was little..."

Draco nodded attentively, taking a bite out of his toast.

"How long will they be gone for?"

Hermione walked over to the calendar and looked until she saw in big letters: Mum and Dad come home!

"September twelfth, four days after we arrive at school. I know you probably don't want to see your father again, but...where's your mum?"

Draco placed the white part of his egg on his toast, and then took a bite. He chewed until he could think of a decent answer.

"My mum...my mum left us in my first year. My dad told me that it was because he caught her cheating on him."

He finished his toast and then cut his eggs in half with his fork, shoveling one onto his fork and then stuffing it into his mouth.

"Do you believe your dad when he told you that?"

Draco looked at her while he finished the eggs, shoving his plate to the side and throwing his napkin on top. He gave her a small smirk.

"You know, to tell you the truth, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if she was. Every two years she comes back, tells us about a man she met, and then begs my father for forgiveness and begs him to take her back. He never does..."

Hermione smiled weakly and then started playing with her fingers, picking at her silver ring that rested on her left hand, on her ring finger. Draco saw this and hesitated to speak at first, but then decided to say something.

"Did Potter give you that?"

Draco stood up and set his dish in the sink before turning around to face.

Hermione remained seated, still tracing it with her fingers. "Yes, yes he did. I-I don't know why I still wear it..."

The Slytherin tongued his gums and leaned against the sink counter. "Maybe a part of you still wants him to come back. Maybe you believe that he'll change."

Hermione looked at him as if he had read her thoughts. She had tried so long to figure out why she still wore the ring, and he had hit the nail on the head. Hermione Granger looked down at the floor tiles, almost embarrassed to look up at him, but telling him in a way that he's right.

"He won't change, Grange—Hermione. Trust me, once an abuser, always an abuser. Harry Potter'll never change. You might as well burn that ring," Draco replied, trying not to hurt her.

Hermione nodded and then looked at her ring that was placed on her ring finger. She remembered the exact place where he had given her it. Hermione remembered every single detail from that night. He had given it to her in the dormitories; Harry had snuck into the girls' dormitory. She let him into her room that she was lucky enough to have had to share a room with. A dozen candles were lit around them, the room smelled like vanilla and lavender, and that was the night that he had taken her purity away from her. Of course, it was planned and she was willing.

Looking back now though, Hermione felt depressed about giving it away to the bastard that had hurt her. She shook herself out of her past, and then felt tears start to fill up her hazel eyes. She willed them away, trying so hard not to cry in front of Draco. Hermione had cried her life away to him, and she didn't want him to think she was a crybaby. She screwed up her face, trying to hold back her feelings, but a cry escaped her mouth.

Draco walked towards her and hugged her tightly, feeling sorry for her. She had gone through more than anyone should have at her age. He knew that she had every right to cry, and didn't think of her as anything less than perfect. Draco felt her start sobbing hard into his shoulder, and then felt his shirt start to become wet with her tears, but that was the last thing he cared about.

"I'm sorry, Draco," Hermione said, forcing herself out of his embrace and trying to collect herself together again. "I-I didn't want to cry in front of you. You're trying to help, and I'm breaking down."

"It's alright, Hermione. Don't apologize, please. You've done nothing wrong, but Potter's brainwashed you to believe that you're less than beautiful. I know it hurts to look at the ring; that's why we're going to burn it tonight, alright? We'll burn that prick out of our lives forever."

Hermione couldn't help but laugh a little. Draco was the only one that could make her cry from first year to sixth year, but he was the only one who could make her laugh now. She smiled widely, and nodded. She hugged him one last night and then began to wash his plate.

"I'm going to go take a shower, and we can ready to go to London, alright? How does that sound?"

Hermione smiled again from behind the plate and nodded. "That sounds great, Draco. Thank you..."

She felt him smile behind her as she cleaned the last speck of dirt from the ceramic plate.