So this is chapter 17. Ofc I don't own anything blah blah. Btw I have an account on AO3 where I update faster on + I actually know how to use it (I've been really struggling with lmaoo), my account name on there is Davina_moon. I have more Dramione stories on there. I might post them on here too.

Hermione didn't understand how things had gotten so bad. She got off the cold bathroom tiles after sitting on them for 5 full minutes. She flushed the toilet, getting rid of the evidence, and went to wash her hands and face.

She had had a panic attack after dinner, which she forced herself to attend, not wanting another fight with Ron. She felt like there was something crawling inside of her; it was her consistent self loathing that only seemed to worsen at meal times. She was supposed to have more control than this, she was supposed to be better than this. Food distracted her from what was really important. It was a nasty hindrance in her achievements. Over break she watched a lot of TV, and once saw a girl purge in a movie. The girl seemed euphoric after, even though she was eating earlier during the day.

One way or another, Hermione found herself bent over the toilet with 2 fingers down her throat. It was like she was in a trance while doing it. She wasn't thinking and didn't even notice the food coming back up her throat and into the toilet. It was like she lost full control over her body and senses.

Hermione had conflicting feelings about the purge. On the one hand, she felt clean, almost as if all her worries had come up with the food. On the other, she felt weak and uneasy. It was like she was losing grasp on who she was, barely recognizing who she was in the mirror.

After brushing her teeth and ridding herself from that horrible aftertaste in her mouth, she settled at her desk again and started studying, taking one more pill before she did. Almost instantly, her feelings on the events in the bathroom faded and focus zeroed in on her work. She was back to being studious Hermione. It almost felt normal.

In the dungeons, Blaise and Draco were hanging out in silence.

"Do you think they did it?" Draco asked, breaking the silence between the two. Both had been doing their own thing, but in each others' presence.

"What?" Blaise asked, without looking up from his book. Although he had gotten used to it, it still annoyed him that Draco could never get to his point in one go.

"Hermione and Krum." Draco answered, trying to seem unbothered. Truthfully, he hoped Hermione had told Blaise about her relationship with the Quidditch player. Blaise was closer to her than Draco, so it wouldn't be out of the question.

"You gotta give me more, Draco. What do you think they did?" Blaise said through gritted teeth, though slightly intrigued.

"It." Draco stressed. The boy also seemed to be getting annoyed that Blaise was making him spell it out. It was embarrassing enough bringing it up.

"Sex?" Blaise asked, finally sitting up and making eye contact with Draco, who nodded in return. "Merlin, why didn't you just say that. You of all people shouldn't be so prudey to say sex." Blaise said, earning an eye roll from Malfoy. It was no secret that Draco liked to sleep around, being known as quite the man-slag.

"Oh, just get on with it. Did they or did they not fuck?" Draco snapped.

"They weren't even dating. Hermione isn't one to do it willy nilly. You know that. Why are you even asking?"

"That's just it! They were dating. She told me as much when we came back to Hogwarts."

"I don't see how it's any of our business then. It's between her and Viktor, that's it." Blaise answered simply, turning his attention back to his book. Draco grunted. He had just put himself through agony and voiced his (rather embarrassing) concerns to Blaise, just for the boy not to care at all.

"Blaise, you know Hermione better than I do. What do you think?"

"I don't know! It's none of our business Draco. Just let it go." Blaise huffed. Hermione's personal business was her business and shouldn't be up for juvenile gossip. But after his initial reaction of displease washed over, his eyes widened and his book slammed shut. You could practically see a light bulb go up above his head. "Holy shit! You're jealous!"

"What? That's absurd, Blaise." Draco stuttered out. "Maybe you've burned too many brain cells from all the champagne you've no doubt had over the holidays. How were your holidays?"

"Don't try to change the subject, Draco, it's not really helping your case. You like Hermione, don't you?" Blaise concluded. Draco didn't know why the subject was making him so defensive. He surely did not like Hermione like that. Sure, she wasn't exactly bad-looking, any guy with eyes could conclude that, but she and Draco would never do anything in a million years.

"Blaise in case you haven't noticed, I'm a Malfoy and Hermione's a-" Before Draco could finish his sentence, Blaise interrupted him.

"What? A muggleborn? In case you haven't noticed, Hermione is now a vital member in our friend group. What her blood is good enough to be one for your closest friends, but not enough to crush on? Bullshit."

"That's exactly why I'd never go for her, Blaise. It's bad enough that we're friends, but do you have any idea what my father would do if a rumor started that it was anything more than that?" Draco tried to rationalize.

"You don't exactly have control over who you crush on or not. Besides, why else would you be questioning her sexual history?" Blaise made a good point, but Draco couldn't have anyone questioning his intentions with Hermione.

"Blaise. I'm a bloke and I have eyes. I just wanted to see if she'd possibly ever spread her legs outside of marriage." Draco hated himself for speaking that way about Hermione. It physically pained him, but it would throw Blaise off his track. The boy was used to Draco's constant crass comments about women, Hermione being no exception.

Usually, Blaise brushed all the crude comments off with at most a disapproving look, but Hermione was different. She wasn't just some slag he'd never heard of before. She was his- their friend. Blaise's blood ran cold hearing Draco speak like that. He got off his bed and threateningly walked over to Draco. "Draco, you are one of my oldest mates and I have learned to deal with your sexist comments and ways. And you know I'm quite the pacifist, but I promise you, if you ever hurt Hermione I will physically rip your balls off. She is off limits; not just some slag who you have your way with and then never call again. I can't even believe you'd talk about her like that. She's your friend too, you know."

Draco could hear the disappointment in Blaise's voice. At least it meant Blaise was off his case now. It wasn't that Draco actually liked Hermione, but he didn't like the thought of anyone thinking otherwise. Draco couldn't find a rational excuse for his emotions and thoughts either, but chalked it up to just being a protective friend. Yes, that sounded logical. Draco Malfoy did not fancy Hermione Granger, he was just being a nosy friend. At least, that's what he kept telling himself.

The faulty explanation wouldn't last for long, though. As soon Draco found himself in the library which was largely empty, except for one seat that was obviously occupied by books and scrolls. Draco recognized a sweater that was lying there; it was Hermione's. Hermione herself though, was nowhere to be seen.

Draco seated himself at a table that was facing Hermione's. When she wasn't back after 5 minutes, he set out to find her. He guessed she was probably looking for some book. He scoured the library and found her at the back. She was standing on her toes, trying to reach a book. Draco couldn't help but check her out, which he had done before in his younger years. Her usually very toned legs, looked notably thinner, almost like sticks. The frown that appeared on his face soon faded when he saw how high her skirt had risen. He could see the frame of her rounded butt cheeks. If she just stretched out a hair higher, he could probably see her knickers.

Hermione seemed to notice someone staring at her from behind. She lowered her arm and looked over her shoulder. Her slight unease simmered down when she saw the familiar face, though she couldn't help but blush. Why didn't he just make his presence known? Was he staring at her? His eyes definitely weren't leveled with hers. Actually, they were quite low. Was he staring at her ass?

Hermione shook the thought away, deeming it ridiculous. Still, she tugged the edges of her skirt down absentmindedly. "Malfoy, do you mind reaching for that book?" Draco was too lost in his thoughts, stressing about if Hermione caught him staring at her… lower region. "Draco?" Hermione said waving her hand in front of his face, snapping him out of his worries.

"Oh- uh yeah. Sure." He stuttered out. He scolded himself for stuttering; Malfoy's don't stutter.

"Thanks," She said as she took the book out of his hands. "Are you here to study or borrow a book?"

"Study."

"Well, come sit with me then. We can study together." Hermione didn't know what inspired her to invite Draco over to her table, but it sounded logical given they were both at the top of their academic careers.

Draco spent no time gathering his things and sitting in a seat next to Hermione. He took in her appearance as she was working on a Charms summary. It was quite late and by the looks of it, Hermione had been in the library the whole day. Her hair was slightly messier than usual and her tie sat looser. The top few buttons on her shirt were undone too; Draco felt dirty for letting his eyes linger a second longer than would be appropriate. Her facial features still looked hollow, but her eyes were ignited with passion. Draco had always admired her burning perseverance, even before they were friends. She was always so eager to learn. Although now that Draco knew her a bit better, he suspected there was more to the story. Her eagerness to learn seemed more like desperation to prove herself as worthy. He didn't know what for; everyone already knew she was the brightest witch of her age. It's not like she ever let anyone forget either.

"Take a picture. It'll last longer." Hermione said, finally growing sick of Draco staring at her. When he didn't reply she cocked her brow and turned to him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I just zoned out."

"... On my face?" Hermione smirked.

"It's an interesting face." Draco commented, smirking right back at her when she found herself speechless. Hermione's lips slightly parted in surprise. In her head she was trying to rationalize the situation. At first glance, it sounded as if Draco was flirting with her, but that could never be it, right? It was just a fluke, a force of habit. Both Draco and Hermione were trying to convince themselves of that.

"On another note, I've been wanting to give you your Christmas present." Hermione decided to change the subject.

"Oh Hermione you didn't have to-"

"I don't want to hear a thing about it. Besides, it's too late now." She reached for a little pouch. Draco's eyes almost fell out of his head when he saw her shove her whole arm down the tiny bag. He realized the pouch was under an extension spell, but was still beyond impressed she was able to pull it off. As far as he knew, it hadn't been taught to the 5th year yet. "It's a bond touch bracelet. I know you think it's not so manly or whatever, but I think it's kind of cool. If either one of us touches it, the other gets the exact same pattern in which it was touched first. If you ever need me just touch it. I guess you could use it to annoy me though too."

"Hermione," Draco was almost speechless as Hermione slipped the bracelet on his wrist. "Merlin, I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything." Hermione said in an almost whisper tone, hands still remaining on Draco's. "Say something when you get a chance to use it."

Before Draco could reply, the pair were interrupted by someone clearing their voice. Both snapped their heads to the sound. Only then did Hermione notice how close they moved to each other. The moment she saw that the person in front of them was Harry, she leaned back into her chair, away from Draco. "Hi, Harry. What's up?" Hermione tried to play it cool, but knew he must've noticed her blush.

"Dinner's starting now. I came to get you so you wouldn't forget again." Though Draco's face didn't show it, this didn't sit right with him. Potter had always been pretty dense; if Hermione's eating patterns had even garnered his attention, something must be wrong. Draco closely examined Hermione's reaction.

"Oh, that's very thoughtful of you. Help me pack up?" Hermione said with a smile, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. This seemed to calm Draco's nerves.

Harry grabbed a few of her books and started shoving them into Hermione's bookbag. "Who knew you were such an obedient little bitch, Potthead." Draco snarled at Harry. Even though he had now befriended Hermione, his dislike for Harry never lessened. Attacking his masculinity was just second nature for him.

"Malfoy, let's not forget that only one of us was an actual animal. Or did you forget, Ferret?" Harry retorted. Hermione put her hand over her mouth in an attempt to stifle her laughter, earning an annoyed glare from Draco.

"Both of you, behave!" She scowled them. "And anyways, I think we all know both of you are my bitches." She added before she left, taking Harry by the elbow, leaving Draco with an astonished look while he watched her leave. After she was out of sight and he had a few moments to process that Hermione Granger just called him, Draco Malfoy, her bitch, he burst out laughing in the middle of a now empty library.

Hi! Thanks so much for reading! I've had a bit of trouble with PM's/ replying to comments. I'm still getting the hang of how to use , maybe I'm just stupid lmao, but rest assured I do read comments (even though there's only 2), they make me very happy and are a great motivator tbh. Again, I really appreciate any notes, requests (I'm always running out of ideas lol), tips etc.