Casual reminder that we are still at toxic part of the relationship. The following scene is problematic and should not be idealized in an actual relationship. Thank you.

*bad BDSM warning*

(Not explicitly but more so that they are doing it slightly wrong, a natural consequence of trying to figure it out on their own)

Hermione was still pissed, even after breakfast. She ended her unintentionally dramatic meal with a langlock jinx on Ron as she stomped from the Great Hall. She knew that there was a chance Ginny or Harry would release him from it but even they looked cowed by her response.

She was still stomping down the hall, first years scuttling out of her warpath, when she remembered she was supposed to be heading towards Charms and she still didn't have her books.

She cast a quick tempus seeing that class had already started and she was going to be dreadfully late. She was cursing her lack of time turner as she cut through the library. It was pure coincidence that she caught a flash of blond hair heading down the empty corridor towards her. Her eyes locked onto his, likely looking mildly insane.

That was another thing. For all that Slytherin's preach for intra-house unity, why in the fuck hadn't anyone done anything to keep Theo safe. He was practically an angel compared to the rest of Slytherin house and they just let other students wallop on him for no reason. Adjusting her objective she stomped over to Malfoy.

"Gr-"

He was cut off as she snatched at his tie, hauling him behind her in a way that in another situation may be comical. Her wand snapped toward an empty classroom, throwing the door open and slamming it shut behind them.

"Ow. What the fuck?" He slapped her hand away grumbling at his neck. "Could you be more obv-"

She didn't give him a chance to finish, throwing her body against his and making them fall against the wall. She kissed aggressively, letting her anger wear down against him, nipping at his lips and tongue. When he pulled away she attacked his neck, noticing his hands spasm against her lower back when she bit down hard at his pulse point.

"Granger, what the fuck are you doing," he hissed pulling her head back by her hair. She whined at the loss of flesh, a sinful heat between her legs spurning her on.

"What does it look like?" she growled, gripping his length through his pants. He let out a groan, his head falling back against the stone for a moment before he snarled, spinning her against the wall.

"I don't recall giving you permission to touch that," he rumbled into her neck, laving at still tender bruises from last night.

His cock pressed into her stomach sending her squirming. She nipped at the already reddening mark on his neck, painfully apparent against his white skin. He groaned, pushing against her before shooting away from the wall, a scowl on his face as his hand shot to his neck.

"That's going to leave a mark," he hissed.

"Shut up and deal with it." She tried to pull him forward again but he blocked her hand. "Oh my god, what ?"

"What do you mean 'what' Granger? You pulled me into this classroom and started attacking me like a desperate heiress then have the gall to ask me 'what'?"

"Are you going to shut up and fuck me or not?" she spat.

"That depends, are you going to explain what the fuck is going on here?"

"I don't need to explain anything to you Malfoy," Hermione snarled. "You seem to have mistaken yourself for something more than just a means to an end for me. Just shut up and do the only thing you're good at."

He growled and pushed away, taking a step back with his face curled into a look of disgust. It was a bit too close to familiar and it stung.

"What's you're fucking problem?"

He glared at her while she leaned against the wall. Her body was so full of rage and energy that she might burst and currently there was only one person to direct it at.

"You're my fucking problem," she shouted back, casting a heavy silencing spell on at the room. "How could you just let them hurt him like that?!"

"What the… Nott? Merlin, you're talking about Nott." He groaned and began pacing the room, anger radiating off him in waves. "Why the fuck do you care?"

"Why don't you?" she questioned back, resisting the urge to hex him immediately. "He's your housemate and yet I am the one dragging him back to the dungeons covered in bruises and scrapes like a bloody crash dummy!"

"In Slytherin we mind our own business," he barked, not even breaking pace. "He hasn't asked for help so we stayed the hell out of it. Weren't you just praising your friends earlier this term for doing the same?"

"I wasn't lying nearly dead in a corridor in the middle of the night!"

"And I wasn't the one who did it!" He stalked up to her, his eyes narrowed. "So why are you angry with me me?"

"I'm not angry with you!" she yelled.

"Oh I forgot, in Gryffindor physically dragging a man into a room to scream at him is part of the courtship ritual," he scoffed, looming over her threateningly. "Don't take your idiot friend's opinions out on me."

Hermione hissed, Ron's calls of 'Death Eater' and 'gullible' still ringing in her ears. She glared at Malfoy, crossing her arms. "You don't know anything. Just shut up and be useful for one second of your miserable life."

"Then who are you angry with Granger? If not me, or Theo, or your friends, why are you positively vibrating with magic, a second away from burning this whole place down with just a thought?" Malfoy asked, drawing a hand to trace over the bruises on her neck without dropping his glare. "What has you pissed off enough to drag yourself to me? Why are you buzzing around me in the first place? You should be hexing me, not dragging me into classrooms to fuck. Literally any other option would be better than me. So what in the fuck are you pissed at?"

Hermione seethed, tempted to hex him just to prove a point. She was pissed that he was making her think about this instead of just taking care of it. She was enraged at the people who hurt Theo but will never be punished. She was furious with the school for letting it happen. She hated that Theo wouldn't let her help so she did so in the only way she could and then she was livid with the way her friends reacted. She was angry that she fought a fucking war for equality only to end up on the winning side and still saw prejudice against someone for the circumstances of his birth. There was just so much anger she felt like she was about to burst.

Draco swore and she felt his unfamiliar magic ripple over her for just a moment before her own poured out.

"Everything!" she screamed, hearing most of the glassware in whatever room they were in shatter in a wave of burning magic. Heat cut through the air painfully, swirling around them in a hot spiral pulling up glass an parchment in the chaos.

But as soon as it had started it stopped, leaving her achingly cold and drained. Glass and paper fluttered as it fell to the ground, emphasizing the destruction around them. She sunk down to the floor, tucking her head into her knees and fighting off the urge to sob.

"I despise that the fucking war is still taking from us," she screamed into her lap. "I can't stand how the ghosts of this place still follow each and everyone of us around. I hate this new world where everything seems okay when it's not and I loathe that I can't do anything to stop it."

The tears fell anyway, burning paths of resentment and wrath. She wanted to scream and destroy, to tear everything away until they had no choice but to understand! It wasn't just Theo, it was the student's still walking the halls with their eyes searching for exits. It was the way wands were drawn first and thought about second. It was the way that third years fought fifth years in revenge for their families. She hated every minute of it and she couldn't just let it go.

She jumped when she felt a hesitant hand run down her arm. His voice took on that soft, rare sound as he spoke. "Isn't there...Shouldn't I get someone else for this?"

She glanced up, her eyes meeting his, a look of uncertainty painted across his features. His eyes we soft, almost calming in their color and a bit too close to concerned for her taste. She stared at him a moment, her hate flowing out of her like toxic sludge, infecting the very air around them. He didn't cringe away, or tell her to stop being angry. He just watched her unfazed as they breathed in the poison around them.

"Make it stop," she said finally. "Please."

"This isn't… I can't..." he stalled, stumbling over the words. "I'm not that kind of person. I don't do comfort."

"I don't need comfort, Malfoy," she responded tiredly. "I just need it all to go away for a while."

Malfoy frowned, running his hand through his hair as he thought. He shifted in his crouch and for a moment she thought she had broken all of this. That he would leave and she would sink back into the nothingness. But then he spoke.

"I really don't know what to do here, Granger."

"You do though." She watched him, hoping he would understand.

His eyes flickered then glanced to the side. She had never seen him look so unsure before. And maybe they were crossing a line here, they seemed to be good at that. But the world was changing and she had to change too. She allowed herself this because it was the only way to force herself forward.

His hand tightened in finality before he stood, hauling her up by the hair. She yelped, the already sore scalp protesting the movement. Her body grew warm again when he threw her into an empty desk, the wood catching her in the thigh and scraping along the floor.

Suddenly he was behind her, one hand at her waist and the other pushing her chest down against the desk, her body broiling with resentment and the kind of pain she couldn't see the cause of. If she did nothing it would eat away her from the inside out until there was nothing left. He could tear it away from her, like he promised he would.

She let out a choked sob as he yanked down her slacks, scratching along her spine as he did so. He swore softly, stroking his fingers through her soaked folds for only a moment before smacking her arse with a harsh snap.

The white burn of pain overrode her senses, centering her as he struck her again and again, the skin burning raw under the onslaught. Then, almost delicately, he traced his hand over the heated skin drawing out a moan that turned into a scream as he slid his cock into her without warning.

Her body quivered around him as he thrust in and out of her, his hands gripping around her hip bones and digging harshly into the tissue. She groaned, her chest sliding against the surface of the desk as he ground deeply into her, her brain an explosion of white stars and red poppies. It was punishing and painful, but it was also exactly what she needed.

"More."

The word was barely out of her mouth before his nails dug into her back, her skin prickling in tight little lines down her spine. He leaned over, teeth clamping down on an already bruised part of her shoulder, the sharp stab of agony blurring away her vision.

"More," she demanded again.

He hesitated and it had her squirming against him. He swore, his hand drifting down her hip and towards her thigh. When she heard the metal of a clinking belt she whimpered, fluttering around him.

"No flirting around this one, Granger." He pumped into her once before withdrawing, drawing another moan from her. "If you want it you have to ask. Otherwise I won't-"

"Please, Malfoy."

For the first time since they started this, she was fully sincere as she said it. This wasn't a caught in the moment sentence or a driven to the edge utterance. She was truly begging him, and he knew it.

"There's no room for misunderstandings on this one. You have to tell me what you want."

She hated the reluctance in his voice. He sounded like George did the night he gave her more than he was willing to and then he never looked at her the same way again. It occurred to her that Malfoy was a person, one who may have his own lines and boundaries she had never considered. Maybe one that they were at now. But she pushed anyway. There was no reason he couldn't just walk away on his own if he wanted so who was she hurting?

"Hit me with your belt...please."

She stilled, straining her ears trying to- CRACK!

She whined, feeling the lash burn across her skin in a searing sting just above her thighs. Her vision blurred for a moment before her body remembered to breathe. Her muscles collapsed under her as she dragged in ragged breaths.

"Where is your wand, Granger?"

His voice was cold, such a departure from the soft sound from earlier. That was easier to manage, more familiar and it didn't leave confusing thoughts in her head. Her fingers twitched as she called out an accio to her trusty vinewood. It flew up to her hand with ease, warm and inviting in her palm.

"Right here."

"I am going to strike you four more times and you will drop the situation about Theo until he asks you otherwise. Am I clear?"

She whined weakly when his thumb traced lightly over the welt, so softly but still flaring the pain. Tears pulled at the corners of her eyes but rather than feeling like defeat, they felt freeing. Then Malfoy gripped harder, holding her still until she whined again.

"I said, Am I clear?" he hissed, his hand increasing the pressure with every word.

"Clear," she moaned.

Her voice was muted, almost trance like. When the next flay hit across her bare bottom she yelped, pain blotting out everything but the way her blood was draining down her spine. The second and third lashes had her arching her back, her skin threatening to break open and if that happened every bit of her would fall out, leaving everything that was Hermione Granger puddled on the floor.

"Last one." His voice was ragged and strained, something that may have concerned her in a better mindset. As it was she was just bracing for the-

CRACK!

This time she screamed, skin nearly boiling from the heat. She heard the sound of leather hitting the floor before he lined back up, pausing just long enough to speak.

"Your wand's-"

"Here," she moaned out, her fingers splayed over it. He didn't need any more prompting, slamming into her at a brutal pace that set her skin alight as he pressed against rising welts.

"You hate everything, do you Granger?" he growled, his voice as strained and feral as his erratic thrusts.

It completely lacked the usual tight control she had come to associate with their activities. She tried to respond just as he slammed against that spot deep within her, drawing himself against her in a slow grinding motion until she felt like she was drowning. Her vision blurring with a mix of tears, pain and pleasure.

"Fine. Hate it all. Let it fucking consume you," he groaned, his hands tightening around her hips as his muscles stiffened. "But don't forget to hate me too."

His thrusts grew faster, the only warning she had before she was thrown into a deep pit of ecstasy, falling apart around him as he continued to pump into her mercilessly, her body screaming in a sea of agony and pleasure. Her eyes snapped shut blocking out everything but his voice.

He roared as he climaxed, crushing against her as he rode it out.

When she opened her eyes she was still staring at the desk, tracing patterns in the wood with her breath. All thought had cleared from her head and left her weightless and so blissfully calm she felt like she was breathing for the first time in years.

She sighed lightly as his fingers slid over her hips, one hand tracing the welts gently and the other to support himself on the table. A draft had slipped in, cooling her burning skin and wicking away at the aura of the room.

Finally he withdrew, stepping away to adjust himself as she stood to do the same on unsteady legs. She winced as the fabric scraped against still hot skin on her bottom.

When she looked up she was surprised to see him still there, leaning against the wall as he watched her with an unreadable expression on his face. Usually he left by now.

For a moment they just stared at each other, examining the crack in the façade that had stood strongly between them until now. Something had changed, and neither of them was sure what that meant. It was eventually him who spoke, pushing off the wall and cracking his neck.

"Are you okay?"

That fucking soft voice again. God she hated it so much. She definitely didn't want to hear it from him.

"Don't," she choked out, feeling small and vulnerable. "Don't act like you fucking care."

His eyes flashed, something between hurt, pity, and anger.

"I'm going to give you a piece of advice, Granger." He straightened his tie and pushed his hair back. The only evidence of her attack was the fading flush on his cheeks and darkening mark on his collar. "Honor your demons. Lest they rear their ugly heads at inopportune times."

He walked to the door opening just a crack before turning to glance at her over his shoulder. His eyes looked pained, something she hadn't really expected to ever see from him.

"Do you hate yourself Granger?" he whispered, the sound almost lost in the cavernous classroom. "I know I do."

She waited to respond, long after the door had closed and his footsteps had faded from the corridor, hating how hollow she sounded.

"Only a little bit."

000000000000000000000000

When she finally dragged herself to her room she had missed two hours of Charms. Considering it a lost cause she returned to her head dorm and showered, washing away any evidence of her morning. When the water had run cool, past what even magic could heat, she was forced to exit and got dressed just to fall into bed. She was isolated, like she was back in the fog but this time painfully aware and unable to do anything about it. She felt empty.

"Are you okay?"

She didn't understand that softness, the almost careful kindness that first appeared in the form of a glass of water in the moonlight. That small offered moment of peace that threw their whole arrangement past 'no ones' and into something else.

"I don't know what to do."

It was a statement of weakness. Words that carried the requisition of permission. Something that indicated that care was to be taken.

"Isn't there...Shouldn't I get someone else for this?"

He should have. She should have asked for someone else. Now everything was different. This time she had not meant to cross the line. This line was something else...it meant that she was forced to reexamine everything that was Draco Malfoy. It meant that people were complex, and didn't fit in little boxes of good and evil, light and dark. And if that's the case she was left holding a card with his name on it, staring at an empty table with nowhere to put it.

Before she could ruminate too long on that she heard a peculiar knock on the Head's common room door. It took her a moment to recognize the beat as matching the tune 'Helga never huffs nor puffs'.

With a groan she stared at the ceiling, hoping whoever it was would just go away. The knocking stopped and she was working up the energy to make sure there wasn't a collapsed student outside when her bedroom door opened.

She shot up just as Luna wandered in, her gaze floating around the room in mild curiosity.

"Luna!" Hermione cried, resisting the urge to pull the covers to her chest even though she was fully dressed. "How on earth did you get in?"

"Oh, I just told the door I wanted to go for a stroll."

The portal to the head dorm was a landscape of the garden usually opening to the password, 'bumbershoot'. She stared at Luna still trying to figure out what was going on as the girl roamed around the room.

"It's very nice in here," Luna mused tickling at the golden rope that kept her curtains open. "I was concerned by the amount of Flarphetals in your hair when you left breakfast but you seemed to have excised them just fine."

"Uh, thanks Luna." Hermione nodded as the girl settled on her bed throwing herself back so that her hair sprawled across Hermione's legs. "Er… did you need something?"

"Of course not," the blonde mused, her eyes following what appeared to be dust motes as they drifted in the air. "I'm here for you."

"Pardon?" Hermione questioned. It wasn't that she didn't like Luna, in fact the girl was one of the few people who could keep up with her in a solid debate when she felt like it. It was just that almost half the things that came out of her mouth were nonsense.

"I was watching the Day-de-lions dream under the snow and saw an image of you crying. Are you quite alright? We wouldn't want them to have nightmares and wake up before spring."

The other part of Luna that made her uncomfortable was the absolutely eerie way she seemed to always know everything. Particularly because she never seemed to care about any of it.

"I'm fine Luna," Hermione muttered, mostly just wanting the other girl out of her dorm so that she could stew in peace.

"I thought what you did for Theodore was quite nice. He's a good one," she hummed, turning her head so that her cerulean eyes stared at Hermione. They were so large and open that they edged the line of uncanny.

"I ran across him during rounds. He mentioned he wasn't feeling well," she waved dismissively.

"Hmm, I see. I can understand that." Her eyes glazed for a moment before returning to the present. "Do you think that cut on his head will scar?"

"I-" Hermione sputtered wondering how Luna had noticed the injury from the Ravenclaw table. She could barely see it a foot away from him.

"Well, I think it was a kind thing to do. We can never have peace until we learn to let go of the hate we hold on to."

"Some of us need that hate to hold on," Hermione whispered, watching her hand twisting in Luna's hair of its own accord. So similar and just a shade off of Malfoy's. "Some of us want to be angry."

"You can be angry," Luna agreed, folding her hands across her chest. "I find myself angry quite frequently. But you can't find peace if you are drowning in hate."

"Peace feels too much like nothing," Hermione responded, watching the strands fall through her fingers. "And there are some people I know I can't forgive."

"The first step to forgiveness is familiarity," Lune said sagely, rising off the bed and holding her hand out. "It's something you won't find hiding in here."

"I'm not hiding," Hermione spat defensively. Luna just cocked her head to the side.

"You're not? Oh, Ron and Harry are going to be terribly disappointed. They have been seeking you all day. I told them to try the old artifacts classroom by the library earlier but I don't think they listened."

"I-" Hermione paused, remembering the crash of metal and glass as she had her little breakdown, Malfoy's magic seemingly sealing it off from the castle. She stared at the dotty girl in front of her, the tickling of suspicion scrawling up her spine. "What do you know?"

"A lot of things," Luna responded primly. "And nothing at all. Now you should come along. It's dinner time and I believe you should have a discussion with a certain person."

"Probably," Hermione sighed, grabbing Luna's hand and pulling herself to a stand. "I need to apologize to Ron. I shouldn't have hexed him like that."

Luna just looked at her oddly.

"It wasn't Ronald I was thinking of," she hummed as she started off down the stairs leaving Hermione to trail behind more lost than she had started.