**A/N: Once again I state the characters and locations in this story are not mine. However, the plot is. ***WARNING! This chapter depicts a graphic scene of violence. If you are squeamish please avert your eyes. Thank You*** As always enjoy the new chapter. Thanks for sticking with me this far.**
The night of the second trial was more or less joyous. Those in Hufflepuff, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were excited as their chosen champion were getting closer to victory, though not all were very happy.
Hermione was on her way to the third floor to meet Draco for the first time since he had freaked out on her the night of the Yule Ball. The corridor she was in was entirely empty since everyone else was at the celebration. She rounded the corner and walked straight into Ronald. "Oh! Hi Ron. Excuse me. I really must be going. I'm sorry to have bumped into you." She said awkwardly, but politely as she tried to walk around him, but refused to make eye contact.
Before she could walk around him, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back and whispered menacingly to her, "I suggest you stay away from Potter, if you know what's good for you."
"Ron, let go! You've no right to tell me who I can and cannot talk to!" She yelled at him as she tried to pull away from his vice-like grip.
"The hell I don't." He replied as he roughly pushed her into the wall.
Her head hit the wall so hard she saw brilliant colors in front of her eyes. She slid down the wall leaving a trail of blood as she did. In fear, her hands flew up in defense, "Ron! Stop! Please!" She cried out, one hand reached for her wand while the other tried to pull free from Ron's grip to cover her head.
"Say you will!" He replied with a snarl as he held her wrist away from her face and forced her to look at him.
"Like hell!" She screamed as she pulled her wand out of her pocket. She raised her wand, hoping beyond hope that seeing it would stop him from assaulting her further.
He frowned as he looked at the wand and snarled, "You won't do it. I know you won't."
"You just slammed my head into the wall, you really think I won't?" She yelled at him, now pointing her wand directly under his chin.
"Then do it." He said simply, hiding that he was nervous that she would.
She opened her mouth to cast the knockback jinx. She'd never cast a spell on a fellow student to hurt them, no matter how stupid they were being.
In fear, she dropped her wand to her side. She couldn't duel him at such close a range.
"Ron, why are you acting like this!" She cried out. His hand was still holding her in place against the wall.
"Shut up!" Ron shouted as his fist connected with her jaw.
Hermione shrieked in pain as her body fell hard into a crumpled heap on the corridor floor. Ron had let go of her arm so she buried her face into her arms, as she tried desperately to make herself smaller. 'Maybe if I stay still, he will leave me alone,' she thought to herself as she sobbed uncontrollably.
"Giving up already?" He grunted at her, as he aggressively placed his booted foot on the, injured, back of her head. He applied steady pressure grinning as he listened to her scream and writhe in pain beneath him.
"Stupify!" shouted a voice from behind them, and Ron crumpled into an unconscious heap on the floor beside Hermione. "I knew you were a piece of shite Ron, but this is ridiculous." Harry said as his piercing emerald eyes glared at Ron. He knelt down beside Hermione, "come on, let's get you some help."
"Oh Harry!" She cried out as she sat up and hugged him. "Thank you!" She whimpered into his shoulder, as the blood from her head wound dripped down onto it. She felt faint and dizzy from loss of blood as well as her head wound. Hermione knew she probably had a concussion.
Harry hugged her back as he put his hand over her wound before breaking away and tearing a piece of his robe and covering the wound.
"What are you doing Harry?" She asked now numb from the pain. She was delirious and unaware of the dire situation her body was in.
"I'm trying to stop the flow of blood. There is a lot of blood! Let's just go to the hospital wing." He replied as he guided her away from the area with the cloth still on the wound.
"Okay." She said, leaning on him to keep her upright, as she allowed him to guide her. As they got to the staircases she remembered Draco. "Oh goodness. I'm so late. I,uh,I've got to meet up with a friend Harry." She said as she pulled away.
"But, well, you're bleeding. They will understand that you need to go to the hospital wing." He said nervously because he didn't want her to panic.
She gave him a confused look. "Harry, what in the world are you on about?" She asked, "I'm not bleeding" she said as she inspected the parts of her body she could see.
"You must've hit your head harder than I thought. You are bleeding, in the back. There." He replied sheepishly, as he pointed to the gaping wound on the back of her head, "also, who are you in such a hurry to see? I'm not letting you go meet this other person when you are in danger of falling over. You can barely stand on your own, Hermione. And you are obviously delirious."
She ran her hand over the back of her head and stopped as soon as she felt the stickiness of the blood in her hair. Her eyes widened at both the blood and the realization that he wasn't lying. "Umm, it's no one to worry yourself about, really Harry." She said hoping it would ease his mind. "I promise I'm safe." She continued on to say. Then she stepped toward him and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek and turned and rushed away.
Harry couldn't believe his eyes, she was rushing away from the hospital wing with an actively bleeding head wound. He only hoped whomever she was rushing off to, would get her to listen to them about going to the hospital.
Hermione rushed through the door to their classroom, then slammed it closed and looked around quickly. She leaned against the door to gain her bearings before she spotted Draco, and ran straight into his arms, tears welled in her eyes as the pain overtook her.
"What the hell happened to you?" Draco demanded. He was tired of seeing her hurt and crying.
"Ron! Ron is what happened! He attacked me." She cried into his shirt. "I'm so sorry Draco. I tried to get here, I even tried to use my wand to defend myself. But things just went from bad to worse." She sobbed, not making much sense to Draco. Her head had begun to throb, and she wasn't really able to think clearly.
"Remind me to deal the Weasel later. Are you alright?" Draco asked as he held her tight.
She shook her head no, into his chest, her head injury caused another dizzy spell, making her knees buckle and causing her to start to fall.
Draco put his hand on the back of her head and felt the sticky wetness of blood. "Fuck! What did the Weasel do to you? You need the Hospital Wing. I know some healing charms, but this is beyond me."
She looked up at his eyes, they were boiling with rage, but she knew it wasn't towards her but towards Ron. "Harry tried to get me to go to the Hospital Wing, but I needed to get to you."
"Potter tried to get you to go to the Hospital Wing? Hermione, you should have gone. I would have found you, or found Potter to figure out where you were. Let's get you to Madame Pomfrey." Draco stated firmly. He was frustrated that Hermione seemed to not care about her health. At least Potter was trying to do the responsible thing.
"Thank you, Draco." She whispered. Her head now felt as if someone had taken an axe to it. "Merlin, it really hurts," she cried as Draco lifted her into his arms and carried her to the Hospital Wing. Hopefully no one would be around while they were walking through the corridors.
They made it to the Hospital Wing, and once he saw that Madame Pomfrey was taking care of her, he went to wait outside.