Authoresses Note: Thanks to the reviews we have gotten so far. Here is the second chapter to our story and sorry it took so long to update.

Disclaimer: None of these characters are ours!

Take Me Away

Chapter 2

The Aftermath

Hermione opened her eyes to the sound of voices. She'd been having a nightmare, one of those awful ones where you got all the way to class before realizing that you were completely naked. In the dream, everyone in the classroom-Professor Snape's Potions room-was coming up to Hermione and poking at her and trying to give her messy, wet kisses. Only Draco, sitting by himself at a desk in the corner, wasn't paying attention to her.

She kicked off her blanket, revealing an empty, sun dappled room. She thrashed her arms around on her night stand, for her wand. Next to it stood a glass of water and two aspirins.

Ginny. Tears came to her eyes. Ginny never drank too much and always managed to remember the water. An image from last night came back to her-Ginny holding back her brown hair as Hermione knelt over the toilet.

Last night Hermione had been a stumbling, swearing, crying, sweaty mess, and Ginny had sat with her in the bathroom, making her drink water and holding her hair back when she was sick. Ginny had listened to her wail about Ron for hours and reassuring her that things would be okay.

She looked at her calendar and swore-today was the trip to Hogsmeade and she was still in bed.

Pansy looked up as Blaise entered the Three Broomsticks wearing a thick coat that she thought was too warm for fall. His black hair was tousled, purposefully so, to give him that 'just snogged' look that he thought made the girls swoon.

"Hey" he lifted a few fingers in acknowledgment and plopped down beside her in the booth she was sitting sipping tea at.

Surveying his laid back manner, she decided to catch him off guard with her amazing news. "Draco's hooking up with Granger." She said casually, as if this were everyday news that Blaise would shrug off.

"What? Who?" Blaise asked and shook his head in disbelief.

"Granger. Draco. Last night. Oh be afraid Zabini, be very, very afraid" Pansy stated as she sighed and took a deep breath. He glared at her, unbelieving.

"She's already prefect, imagine if she controlled Slytherin and Gryffindor. Not to mention she's a disgusting mudblood."

"Just because she's a prefect doesn't mean world domination is inevitable." Blaise rolled his eyes.

"Well school domination is if she has Draco Malfoy in her side pocket, front pocket, and who knows where else." Pansy shuddered at the thought of her ex with someone like Granger.

"Come on, I mean I know Witch Weekly is your Bible, and believe me, I love a great scandal just as much as the next guy," Blaise started, "But nothing is going on between Granger and Dray." He shook his head at Pansy.

"I saw what I saw, okay?" She hissed, remembering their embrace at the Halloween party.

"Yeah in a dark room while you were drunk. Isn't it possible you saw what you wanted to see?" He asked, sure that Pansy had elaborated this whole story out of spite.

"No. No one chooses to witness something that repulsing." They glared at each other, each one firm in their own beliefs.

"It was only a kiss." Hermione told herself as she noticed upon entering the Great Hall for lunch, that Draco Malfoy had missed the trip as well. He did not know (unless the bitch from last night had told him) and would never find out. But why, she wondered, had he not gone to Hogsmeade with all of his friends. The thought made her nervous as she sat, alone, at the Gryffindor table.

A beautiful white owl glided down over Draco's head and a letter dropped down into his hands. Hermione looked over at him, but he didn't seem to notice her sudden curiosity even though they were they only ones in the gigantic room.

Her eyes studied him as he tore open the envelope in a frenzied manner after he had stared at the return address for quite some time. He unfolded it and she could tell by his expression that this wasn't an ordinary letter.

Hermione watched his eyes flicker back and forth over the paper. He must have read it a hundred times before he stood up slowly. That distant expression that flooded his face reminded her of the way he looked last night after he had a few drinks.

She looked down at her empty plate as he trudged out of the Great Hall. She hoped that the letter he had just read did not include any of the events of last night. This made her stomach flip. It was disappointing that someone was so blatantly disgusted at the thought of kissing her. She squirmed in her seat after sitting there for only a few more seconds. Without thinking about the consequences, she stood up and followed him.

The hallways were empty which left her with an eerie sinking feeling. Hogwarts felt a lot better when it was crowded and noisy. Now it was just another abandoned castle. Every step made her anxious and every little noise made her flinch. She didn't want a conversation with him, because she was afraid he'd throw the same insults at her.

She stopped as she reached the end of another deserted corridor and frowned when she recognized that she was near Snape's classroom and the Slytherin common room. Her body stiffened in fear when she heard a crash coming from the Potion's room, but she inched closer to the door that was open just a crack. The windows were closed and the room looked creepy as if it was part of a horror movie. When she pushed open the door a gasp escaped from her lips, at the end of the room, by Snape's desk, stood the blonde.

Papers were strewn out everywhere. There was a blue stain on the marble floor, most likely the crash she had heard, that was a bubbling mess. Snape's prized handbook was ripped to pieces.

His stone grey eyes were full of angry tears. The letter was crushed in a clenched fist as he looked up at her and froze. He gasped for air and tried to stifle in the tears as he continued to stare. He looked alarmed when he tighten the grip on his wand and walked around the desk towards her. He threw down the letter as he spoke.

"Don't..." He sobbed. "Tell...anyone." He threatened, but didn't hold up his wand like she expected, instead to her surprise he collapsed on his knees and banged his fists on the hard floor. His blonde hair was covering his face and he had loosened his grip on his wand.

"He's such a bastard!" He cried. "I...hate...him...so..." He breathed in. "...much."

Hermione, who had lost all inhibitions, walked towards him like he was a wild animal about to attack and kneeled beside him. She hesitated as she watched him sobbing and placed a hand on his shoulder, but got the response she was expecting.

"Get off of me you filthy mudblood." He cried and flung her arm off of him and shot her a another threatening glare.

"But."She squeaked.

"Shut up." He cried out desperately as he pushed himself off the ground. He wiped his eyes with his sleeves and looked down at her.

"This did not happen Granger." He said and picked up his wand. "But thanks." He said sarcastically as he strutted out of the classroom- leaving her alone and confused.

She stood up and looked around. Out of the corner of her eye she saw what had made him act so strangely. The letter. It lay in the mess of papers that surrounded the desk. She grabbed it and looked up at the doors before unfolding it.

Draco,

I have news. Your mother struggled against the Dark Lord's requests for you to become a Death Eater, but don't be disappointed boy, you will be accepted as the Dark Lord's chosen one. Your mother on the other hand got what she deserved. Don't fret Draco, think about her as a sacrifice rather than a victim.

"Where were you?" The concerned voice of Harry asked behind her as she walked up the steps to Gryffindor tower. She waited to respond.

"No where." She lied. It would not look good if she told them that she had blown them off to feel sorry for Draco Malfoy.

Ron, who seemed to have forgotten the major details of last night's party, came up behind her and with a stupid expression on his face asked, "Have you been crying?" He lifted a finger to wipe away the single tear that had fallen upon reading Malfoy's letter

She flinched at his touch and looked at him. He stared at her shyly and flipped his red hair out of his eyes. Hermione looked down and she really wanted to twist his arm, but instead she shook her head and hurried up the stairs before Ron or Harry could call after her.

"What's up with her?" Ginny asked and pointed to the steps leading up the girl's dorms, when Ron and Harry entered the common room. A bottle of bright red nail polish rested on the coffee table. She put her hand in front of her face to inspect her freshly polished nails.

"Dunno." Harry shrugged and looked over at Ron. "What'd you do?"

"Nothing." He blinked and picked at the lint on his homemade sweater. He had the feeling that things had not gone so well last night at the party, but he couldn't remember and Harry and Ginny had not brought up anything unusual.

His sister eyed Ron before returning to her polishing. "Well I'm not dealing with your girlfriend Ron." She paused. "Again."

"Again?" Ron asked.

"Yeah." She scoffed. "Hermione was sick all last night." she sighed and screwed on the lid to her nail polish and stood up. "Ginny what will he do when he finds out?" She mocked, flipping her long red hair out of her face.

"What?" Ron blurted. "Find out what?"

Ginny shot him an evil look as she passed them. "Oh, please don't be dumb... like I'm telling you."

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