Disclaimer: I blah DON'T blah OWN blah blah HARRY bleh POTTER. Meh.

Consider yourself disclaimed.

Okay, this is part two of, whatever it is…

Chapter 17

000

Hermione was literally "saved by the bell"- the doorbell, that is. She couldn't remember ever having felt so uncomfortable in her life, sitting there in the kitchen with her parents and Draco. So when the doorbell rang, she flew out of her seat as fast as she could. She didn't care who was at the door. She thought vaguely to herself as she entered the hall that opening the door to Voldemort himself, ready to Avada her would be much preferable to spending one more second in that kitchen.

But it wasn't Voldemort. It was her best friend – muggle friend – whom she'd known since she was a toddler, and the girl's slightly older brother, whom she'd had a bit of a crush on since not long after.

"Mary!" Hermione said, taken completely by surprise. Hermione actually felt herself smile. It had only been a few weeks since she'd last seen her two friends, but it was nice to see them all the same. "What are you guys doing here?" she said as Mary hugged her excitedly. "How did you know I was home?"

"Your mum called us." Mary replied. "She seemed to think you needed a bit of cheering up."

"She…what – why?" Hermione stuttered. Just how much had her mother told them? Hermione didn't think it was safe to tell anyone what had happened to her and she wouldn't have wanted to even if she could.

Mary shrugged. If she knew something she wasn't going to let on…

Hermione's brow furrowed worriedly for a moment before the tall boy next to Mary cleared his throat. Hermione decided to let go of her worries for the time being. It really was nice to see her friends, for whatever reason they were here.

"Hey, Rob." Hermione said simply, giving him a smile and leaning comfortably into his arms.

"Hey kid." The boy said gently, before pushing her back to inspect her. "Long time, no see," he said, giving her a sarcastic wink.

Hermione slapped him playfully on the arm. "Yes, it's been ages…" she chuckled, playing along.

Just then, Hermione felt at ease for the first time in days…She'd spent most of her time with these two people as a child and the better part of every summer with them since she'd gone to Hogwarts. They knew each other very well.

They of course didn't know of Hermione's magical ability, but it had never been something that Hermione felt as a barrier. When her friends asked her about school she answered vaguely and left it at that. It had never been a big deal.

As much as Hermione truly loved to outshine those around her, she'd never felt the need to with Mary and Rob. Every year at Hogwarts so far had ended with some sort of catastrophe, and it was nice to be able to come home and be a normal teenager with no evil wizard out to get her and no friends to protect and rescue – not that she resented Ron or Harry for that. They were her family, and families protect each other.

So she smiled simply and genuinely at her muggle pals. They looked very alike, Mary and Rob – this made sense, as they were siblings. Both were tall with short dark hair, deep blue eyes, and evenly toned olive skin. They shared the same heart shaped face and barely clefted chin.

Rob had always been a girlish crush of Hermione's – at first because he was the only boy she knew, and then because he was a good friend and a very good-looking one to boot. He had the sort of boyish good looks that most girls are instinctively drawn to. He had a rich laugh and dimples when he smiled. It was easy and natural to fancy him, especially since she only saw him during the summer.

It didn't hurt that he was very different from the boys Hermione spent her time with. Ron had red hair, freckles, and a quirky sense of humor. Harry's features were dark and deep, and Draco…well Hermione could spend hours thinking about Draco's features if she let herself…Draco seemed to be made of light. Pale hair, pale skin…even his eyes were made of glowing silver. The delicate yet defined and oxymoronically harsh features of his body only added to the effect of 'fallen angel.'

But back to the topic at hand! Hermione really hated the way her mind had been wandering to Draco of late, as though he had some magnetic pull over every part of her.

"Well, we have a bit of a surprise for you, love," said Mary with a mischievous grin.

"Oh no…" said Hermione, genuinely afraid. "Dare I ask?"

"Dare or not," said Rob. "We're going to tell you anyway."

Hermione bit her lip. "Okay…"

"You're birthday's coming up, is it not?" Mary was grinning again…oh no.

"Yes?" Hermione responded tentatively.

"Well, we haven't had a party for you since you turned eleven."

Hermione knew exactly where this was going…

"So you can deny us no longer," said Rob firmly.

Hermione rolled her eyes, but she honestly knew it was pointless to fight them – the battle was lost and she hadn't even fought it yet. She sighed resignedly and her friends knew her well enough to know she'd given in. Rob and Mary grinned again and Hermione found herself smiling with them, though she still felt uneasy.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked timidly.

"Come to our house and find out," Rob said with a roguish smirk.

"Uh, when?" Hermione asked, wondering if she'd have time to think up an excuse as to why she couldn't go.

"Now, silly!" exclaimed Mary.

"What?" Hermione yelped. "I can't, I have to…my parents-"

"Your parents are the ones who called us, remember?" Mary was chuckling now. "Speaking of – where are they now, I want to see them!"

"Kitchen…" Hermione mumbled, turning to head back to her doom, knowing her friends would follow her.

When she re-entered the kitchen she found her mother reaching out to touch Draco and forcefully shoved a jagged twinge back down where it came from.

"Janie G.!" cried Mary, running to Mrs. Granger's arms.

Hermione rolled her eyes but couldn't help the smile that played at the corners of her mouth. Mary and her mother were kindred spirits. They both had the same naïve lust for life, whereas Hermione, Rob, and John Granger leaned more to the reserved, determined side. It was always fun to watch Mary and Jane laugh together, though.

Rob gave Jane a one-armed hug then bumped shoulders with John like they always did.

"Yeah, we are early," said Rob. "But we have everything ready, so we thought we'd get a jump on it." Rob gave Hermione a suggestive wink that made everyone except Draco grin and roll their eyes. Hermione didn't look at Draco, but if she had she would have feared for Rob's life.

And moments later when Rob slung his arm around Hermione, if Hermione had been listening she would have heard Draco mutter something very inappropriate.

"So, what do you say, Grangers? Can we whisk your daughter away?" Again, Hermione rolled her eyes. Jane chuckled and said, "Of course you can. Just promise me you'll make her have fun."

"Done," said Rob, as he turned and pecked Hermione on the cheek. Hermione elbowed him in the ribs in mock annoyance, but not hard enough to do damage.

Rob huffed, feigning indignation. "Come on, you…" he said, grabbing her hand and dragging her toward the door.

Around this time, Hermione realized that Jane hadn't said anything in a while. She turned to look at her friend and found her staring at Draco with interest. "You must be Draco," she said. Jane must have told her friends about him…

Whatever world Draco had been in, being directly addressed instantly snapped him out of it. He titled his head up in acknowledgement, a sour look on his face.

Hermione felt a strong sense of foreboding…this could get ugly. Draco wasn't exactly the "friendly" type. Her parents were one thing but Hermione doubted very much that Draco's newly found civility would carry over to her friends.

"Are you coming along, Draco?" asked Mary, her eyebrows raised. "You're not going to make us throw a party for Nia on our own, are you?"

Hermione didn't know which emotion was stronger – the mortification she felt at having Draco hear her nickname of the terror she felt as she wondered which of the many colorful phrases in Draco's repertoire he would choose as his response. But what he said was much worse that anything she could have pictured…

"I wouldn't dream of it." There was a darkness in his voice that made Hermione go cold. She looked directly into his eyes for the first time since the alley and even though he wasn't looking into hers, she saw the same darkness she'd heard, and it brought another sharp twinge to her that she wanted to push away.

But she couldn't push it way, so she turned away to leave instead.

"Okay, let's party!" said Mary, grabbing Hermione's other hand and helping Rob haul her toward the door.

-

Draco watched with detached interest as Hermione came through the door followed by two unknowns. The first pang of annoyance came when "Rob" greeted Hermione's father like a brother. Who the hell was this guy?

The second pang – a much stronger one- came when the asshole winked at Hermione like he was thinking something he definitely was not allowed to think.

He listened to the conversation for a moment with his eyes narrowed. He didn't like this at all. Who the fuck were these people that they could just walk in like it was their own home. The Grangers were obviously perfectly comfortable with this attitude and that only added to Draco's displeasure.

And then the third pang came. Actually 'pang' didn't quite cover it. The fucker put his arm around Hermione, his Hermione.

Get your filthy hands off her. He wasn't aware that he said this out loud.

Pure rage boiled up inside him as he watched Rob's arm tighten around Hermione. And then rage turned to black fury when the guy put his lips on his girl.

It was everything he could do not barrel across the room and beat the shit out of the bastard with his bare hands. But then Hermione pushed the bastard away and Draco breathed.

Another few more deep breaths passed through him and he barely heard the conversation. He had gathered so far that these people were going to take Hermione away. The details of why and where were insignificant.

So when the girl called Mary spoke to him it took him a moment to process what she was saying.

"Are you coming along, Draco? You're not going to make us throw a party for Nia on our own, are you?" the girl said.

No chance in fucking hell.

The next moment, Hermione was being dragged out the door and Draco was right behind them. He exited the room silently without a backward glance, not even paying attention to how much it hurt to walk.

All four teenagers missed the apprehensive look on John and Jane's faces.

-

Draco didn't trust himself to get into a car with the other three and keep a hold on himself, but he didn't have to. As it turned out, Rob and Mary were next-door neighbors to the Grangers. Draco followed behind them, never taking his eyes off the joint hands of Hermione and Rob, until he found himself in the comfortably furnished basement of Rob and Mary whatever-the-fuck their surname was.

Much like Hermione's family room, it had a billiards table, a very large TV, and several large paintings. Unlike the Grangers' family room, however, this room was filled with people. And very unlike the Grangers' family room, there was a table set up against the far wall covered with snack foods and beverages – most of them mercifully alcoholic.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all…

Or maybe it would…several people rushed Hermione and wished her an early happy-birthday. And then the music started. It was loud and wonderfully rampant. Draco made his way over to the table with the drinks on it, where he intended to stay for the remainder of the evening.

But he didn't drink, not yet. He just watched. More people showed up and before long the room was almost packed. And then Mary drifted his way with Hermione and Rob in tow. Draco was actually glad that a slow and relatively quiet song was playing at this moment.

"We need drinks," Mary said to Hermione. "And you need to properly introduce us to your friend."

Hermione was dead silent as she stared at the floor. Draco felt that stabbing sensation again…

"Fine," Mary said after a long and uncomfortable silence in which neither Draco or Hermione made an attempt to utter a word. "We'll introduce ourselves." Mary stepped in front of Draco and grabbed Rob's arm to make him do the same. "I'm Mary Walker, and this is my brother, Rob."

Mary gave him a smile and Rob gave him a distracted grin. Clearly his attention was on the party, and Draco hated him for it. There was no reason for it but that didn't stop Draco from hating it. Actually, Draco didn't think there was anything about Rob that he wouldn't hate. Draco's face remained coldly impassive through the whole greeting affair.

"This is the part where you say, 'Hi Mary and Rob. It's nice to meet you. "I'm Draco –" Draco was being patronized but it didn't bother him nearly so much as the location of Rob's hand on Hermione's hip. But he'd play along, that's what Malfoys did - they put on a show.

"Draco…" Mary wanted Draco to divulge his surname.

"Malfoy," he said in a misleadingly calm voice.

"There now," piped Mary. "That wasn't so hard."

Draco had to bite back a nasty retort.

Mary was about to say something else but just then a very bouncy song came on and distracted her, Rob too. He grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her out into the middle of the floor where many people had been dancing the whole evening. Mary followed them and got right up against some other guy…clearly she thought continuing to attempt conversation with Draco was a waste of her breath, and she was right.

Draco watched in horror as Rob pulled Hermione right up against the front of his body and started to move with her. Draco made a move to go put a violent stop to this but ceased almost immediately when he saw the look on Hermione's face.

She was smiling. Not only was she smiling, but she was looking right into Rob's eyes and pushing her body up against his. She was enjoying this. She put her arms lightly in the air and began to move her body in ways that would normally have given Draco a powerful hard-on, but right now were making him physically sick. He gave one last look at the flirty look on Hermione's beautiful face and then couldn't watch anymore.

He wanted to numb himself. He wanted to drink until he couldn't feel his limbs. He turned his back to the dance floor and reached for the nearest bottle of whatever and hoped to God it would get him as drunk as possible as fast as possible.

It worked. The more he drank, the more disjointed, angry, and wild his thoughts became, until soon he was completely gone.

He turned once again to watch Hermione still dancing with Rob and thought bitterly that of course she would want him, she even looked like him. In reality, he had brown hair like she had brown hair and that was where the similarities ended, but Draco was too far gone to think reasonably.

The music got louder and louder – it seemed to be pounding a painful rhythm inside his skull, reminding him of everything that was wrong. He looked at Hermione again and noticed that her features were blurred, that was wrong. He looked at Rob's arm around her and that was even more wrong. And then suddenly a horrid flash of a letter from the Ministry came to his mind and he downed an entire shot of what could only have been whisky.

And then suddenly there was a girl in front of him. The only thing that he knew for sure was that she was a girl, and then drunken instincts took over and he pulled her roughly to him and kissed her as hard as he could, wishing the world would cease to exist and him with it.

-

Hermione had actually begun to let herself have fun. She felt comfortable in the arms of Rob, who felt more like a brother to her than anything else - A very attractive brother, yes, but a brother just the same. She did her very best not to look at Draco as the night wore on. She knew if she did, she'd be pulled out of whatever enjoyment she'd been feeling.

But after a long while, Rob turned her so that Draco fell into her direct line of sight.

Hermione froze in shock and horror as she watched Draco kiss a random girl. Pain. Pain like she'd never felt. She wanted to run. She wanted to hit him. She wanted to attack the girl, whoever she was, but it hurt too much to move.

And then a deeper sorrow replaced the pain when she saw the tears running down Draco's face as his tongue wrapped visibly around the girl's.

Oh Jesus. Draco…

She didn't even feel herself move. Even later, she didn't remember making a decision to go to him. But suddenly she was in front of him, reaching out to him. She wanted to make his pain, and whatever the cause of his tears, go away, but she didn't know how.

She took his face in her hands and looked deep into his eyes. The anguish in them was too much for her to bear. The man in front of her was completely shattered. He let out a sob and fell to the floor, hitting his head and back on the corner of the table, rendered unconscious by alcohol consumption and torment unknown.

000

If you are wondering about the chapter title, it's the title of the song that was playing in my head over and over as I wrote this chapter.

"This is it now, everybody get down, this is all I can take, this is how a heart breaks." This is also the song that I would have imagined Draco getting drunk to in this scene. I would have specified it as the song at the party were it not for the fact that 'This Is How a Heart Breaks' was released in 2005 and this chapter takes place in September of 1997…yeah.

One of my lovely reviewers commented that this story doesn't get enough reviews and I QUITE AGREE. Do something about that. : )

I'm adopting the motto, 'If you can read it, you can review it.' Seriously people. Aside from the fact that I love the feedback, there is the simple fact that people generally feel more inclined to read a story that has a lot of reviews. So prove you love me and help me out!

Amanda

8-10-06

PS – the next chapter is another one that I'm really looking forward to. And for those of you who are wondering when the hell they are going to figure this out and get together, its coming soon, I swear. Just stick with me a little longer: )