Chapter 12

Hermione entered the bedroom and shut the door behind her. She walked towards her ned and jumped onto it, covering herself with the blanket. Grabbing a book from the nightstand, she began reading, hoping that for once, she would dream about the novel's story and not the terrible ordeal she had gone through. She began reading and it took her a while to realize how sleepy she was when she registered that she had read the same sentence over five times without understanding what she was reading. She shook her head and put the book aside, slipping into what she hoped would be a peaceful slumber.

Bellatrix jumped onto Hermione's chest and screeched, "Where did you get the sword, you filthy mudblood?" Hermione flinched and squirmed under her weight and turned her head around, her cheek flat against the ground and her eyes shut tightly. "We-we found it It's fake, it's not real. Please!" she squealed and opened her eyes as she felt the unbearable pain from the Cruciatus Curse.

She found herself staring at a pair of perfectly polished black shoes. She glanced upwards and saw Draco standing there, looking at his aunt torturing her. She looked at him pleadingly, losing all shreds of sense and hoping that her bully, of all people, would help her. He stood there without uttering a word and continued looking at the abuse. As the world around her got darker, the last thing she remembered was staring up at Draco's face as he looked on, and the desperate shouts of her friends that she could barely hear echoing from the cellar.

Hermione screamed as she woke up from her nightmare and wrapped her arms around herself. She flinched as the bedroom door burst open and Draco walked in, his wand held in front of him. He saw Hermione on the bed, shaking quite visibly and with tears continually falling down her cheeks. She stood up on quivering legs and fell to the floor for they couldn't support her weight. She crawled back into a corner and pushed her legs against her chest.

"No, no, s-stay away from me," Hermione whispered as her voice shook. "Granger, wh-" Draco began but was cut off by her yelling at him. "I said, stay away from me! Don't! Just get out. It-it's all your fault, don't," she shouted at him and began whispering to herself as she completely broke down. Draco, taken aback and hurt, swallowed and walked out of the bedroom. He paced around the living room before walking out of their dorm and heading towards the Potter's dorm. He knocked on the door a few times, but then impatiently banged on the door until Ginny opened the door and shouted at him.

"What? Oh, Malfoy, what are you doing here?" she asks as she notices who was trying to break down her dorm door. "Herm- Granger. Something's wrong, I think. She went to sleep and suddenly, she woke up shouting. I tried to ask her what was wrong but she fell on the floor and told me to stay away and said it was my fault," he told her and looked at her expectantly, hoping she would tell him what exactly Hermione was talking about. "Y-your fault? Wait here, I'll go get Harry and we will talk to her," she whispered and ran inside to call Harry.

Within seconds, she returned with Harry, who looked as white as Hermione herself. Harry ran towards their Hermione and Draco's dorm. HE turned around to call Draco after him and walked in. Draco followed him and stood outside the bedroom as Harry and Ginny entered.

Ginny took one glance at Hermione and ran towards her, wrapping her arms tightly around her. Hermione hugged Ginny back and burst into tears as Harry kneeled and joined in on the hug. They separated and Ginny helped her onto the bed. "Mione, what happened?" Ginny asked as she held her hand. "I-I dreamed about the Manor again, and this time, I only mostly saw Malfoy, and I saw him just standing there, while Bellatrix tortured me, and-and I woke up, and I saw him and I all I could think of was that day," Hermione whispered. Harry wiped her tears and hugged her again as she cried into his shoulder.

Draco listened to their conversation and slowly walked away as she told her friends about her dream. He quietly walked out into the corridors and headed down the stairs. He slipped out the gates and sat down against a tree. With his head in his hands, he thought back to the day where he had been forced to watch his Aunt torture Hermione. He had looked on as she Crucioed her and carved Mudblood into her flesh. The same word that he had once addressed Hermione by. And now, after all those years of bullying and teasing, he himself hated the word.

That day in the Manor, he had refused to identify the Trio even though he had recognized them. He had hoped desperately that Bellatrix and his father would just let them go and believe that they are not really the Trio. But then, Belatrix had recognized Hermione as the 'Mudblood' and had proceeded to throw Ron and Harry in the cellar, and torture Hermione in front of him. He had flinched seeing Hermione being abused and being cut open. He had wanted to save her, he had, but, he couldn't. His father, his aunt and Voldemort would have made sure that neither he nor the people he wanted to try and help would survive.

He had tried his best to not stare at her, but he wanted to make sure that his aunt doesn't just kill Hermione off. HE looked on and tried not to look into her eyes, but still made sure that she didn't die.

Draco shook these thoughts out of his head and got up. He decided to return to his dorm, hoping that Hermione would have calmed down by now and that she would be asleep. He carefully entered the dorm and found Hermione sitting on the couch. She noticed him and jumped up. "Oh, um, I can leave and come back later," Draco said and turned around to leave. "No! No, I wanted to talk to you," Hermione whispered, walking towards him and grabbing his hand. He turned around and looked at her. "Oh," he said and sat down on the couch. She let go of Draco's hand and sat down beside him.

"I wanted to apologize," Hermione said as she looked down at her lap. "What? You want to apologize to me? Why?" Draco asked, shocked. She laughed nervously and began "For what happened when you tried to make sure I was okay. You tried to help me but I shouted at you," she said trying not to look at him. "It's okay, you were obviously going through something," he replied, trying to brush off the question. "No, it is not okay," Hermione said and shook her head. "You were trying to help me! And, besides, I was crying about the other time when you tried to save me, but I didn't realize it then. And, I'm sorry." Hermione said and looked up at him. HE smiled slightly as he looked into her eyes. "As I said, it's kay. I myself didn't realize why I did what I did just then," he said.

Hermione smiled brightly and stood up. "Well, now, maybe I should get some sleep," she said and headed towards the bedroom. "Goodnight Draco," she said and shut the door behind her. Draco turned around, puzzled. He wondered why Hermione of all people called him Draco as he drifted off to sleep, his right hand clutched around his dark mark.

Dear Lovely Readers,

Thank You sooooo much for bearing with me, and waiting patiently for the next update. I just want you to know that I wouldn't even think about abandoning this story, believe me.

Love you always (no pun intended),

Sahiraa

scrappy8: Thanks for your support :)

YourFan: Actually I didn't really have a pattern up until now, but I'm thinking maybe I'll update like once a week? I've gotta keep up on my school work too, so daily updates might be hard. Probably every Friday. And, maybe, if I have time, sometimes you might get 2 updates a week. Thank you for your constant support :).

Vision173: Thanks! And, I mean, Weaslette made sense to me, so I put it in. Like, he's not wrong, right?

rooske01: Thanks! I felt that Draco needed a bit of a redemption arc since She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named missed a great opportunity in the epilogue. And yes, he totally deserves it as much as Harry, Ginny, Neville, Luna, and Ron, and like, practically everyone.

1: I agree with you, and they did, actually. According to She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the Malfoy's actually didn't get punished at all. Not even Lucius did. But I personally believe that Lucius deserved more punishment than Draco, so... And also, I meant to add that the Malfoy's had to pay a penalty. I know, that penalty doesn't cut it for being a Death Eater, but this is not for all of the Malfoys' crimes, the fine is only for Draco for he turned good. I'll edit the chapter, kay?

SLYNNR: I agree. It was a missed opportunity on You-Know-Who's part, but I took it.

Vision173: Thank you for your concern, I'm better now, I've just been going through mental struggles. XOXO

rooske01: Thank you! I would soon start the headcanons thread, and I'll mostly only include the ones that make sense. And thank you so much for all your concern, it makes me happy that you care. Lots of Love ;)

MsAwesome2u: Thank you so much for your support X

YourFan: Sorry disappoint you, but here's the chapter according to my promise! And thank you for the birthday wish;)

Lots of Love, Warm Hugs, and Kisses

Until Next Time,

Cheerio!