A/N: Many thanks to:

stalker: Glad to hear it!

aussie girl in red dress: Thanks! Don't worry about it. Being weird is great! If you're not weird, you're boring!

...doesnt matter: Lol, ok then. Thanks for reviewing!

Chapter 12: That's It

I cringed at the sickening thuds that sounded as Draco slugged Jason repeatedly in the face. Jason then rolled them over so that he was on top of Draco, punching him.

"Stop!" I screamed. "Stop it!"

I felt so helpless. I didn't want to risk using my wand; it was too dangerous. And so I shouted and clawed at them uselessly as the bell between classes rang and a group of people gathered to watch and cheer for either Jason or Draco

Suddenly, the figure of Professor McGonagall appeared. She strode over to the boys and spoke a spell that I'd remembered reading about once. The spell froze both boys in place and I kicked myself mentally for not thinking of it.

All was quiet. The blood trickled off the faces of the two guys and dropped to the floor, the splashing sound loud in the dead silent hall.

"Despicable!" Professor McGonagall cried at last, making everyone jump. "I am going to remove the spell and then you two boys are going to follow me to the headmaster's office. Understood?"

Asking that question was of course futile, as neither boy could respond. They just stared at her with bulging, unblinking eyes.

McGonagall spoke the counter curse and Draco and Jason slumped to the floor in ungraceful heaps. The professor pulled them up, a hand grasping each of their ears, before turning and marching towards Professor Dumbledore's office. The boys followed, their heads bowed.

Professor Flitwick soon came out and attempted to usher people to their next class. The crowd gradually dispersed, leaving just me, standing alone in the hallway. The shock hadn't faded yet.

What had he been thinking? Had Draco gone completely insane?

"Miss Granger," Flitwick's voice startled me. "Off to your next class, please."

I nodded absently and proceeded to Defense against the Dark Arts, but I was distracted throughout the entire class. I couldn't concentrate. My thoughts seemed to be hundreds of miles away.

As soon as I stepped outside the classroom, I was pulled to the side by Professor McGonagall.

"Miss Granger," she said in hushed tones. "I need you to come with me to the hospital wing. Mister Malfoy insisted on seeing you and refuses to speak about what happened until he does. All he said was that you were part of this."

I wanted to kill him.

"And what of Jason?" I asked cautiously.

"Mister Brenin has the more serious injuries," she said slowly. "We had to send him to St. Mungo's."

I gasped and she shushed me.

"Please, Miss Granger," she said. "Follow me."

The professor slipped away from me and subtly made her way to the hospital wing. I followed quietly behind. When the entry doors were before us, she turned and looked at me expectantly. I said nothing, but let myself inside.

Draco was the only patient in the hospital wing. He was dozing on the third bed to the left.

"Draco," I whispered when I had seated myself on his bed.

He jerked awake and fixed his eyes on me. They were a very soft grey.

"Hermione."

It was a statement. I noticed how pronounced his accent was, how sexy his gruff voice sounded.

"I-"

"What were you thinking?" I asked exasperatedly.

"Excuse me?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

"You heard me," I said. For the second time that day, my words surprised me. Where had this attitude come from? "How could you do that to Jason? He's in St. Mungo's, you know."

"Then he's lucky," snapped Draco. "How could you possibly defend him? Again? What I did to him was nothing compared to what he's done to you. Why were you walking with that asshole, anyway?"

"That's none of your business," I hissed.

"Oh, I think it is," Draco said, his voice clipped with cruelty. "I think I certainly deserve to know why my girlfriend was taking a stroll with her past abuser. That's like someone having lunch with their rapist. Oh, but I'll bet you would have done that too if I'd left Brenin alone."

I gasped. His awful words cut deep. And there was no sudden remorse in his eyes. Just steely ice.

I wanted to say something, to hurt him as he had hurt me. But I couldn't find the words. And suddenly a fatigue enveloped me.

"What are we doing, Draco?" I asked wearily.

He didn't say anything.

"We've been dating a week and we're already at each other's throats," I said. "Why did we even bother?"

"Because we thought it would be worth it," he said. A pause. "Was it?"

I shook my head. A tear slid down my cheek.

"Then I guess that's it," he said.

I turned to walk away. There was nothing left to say.

"And for the record," he called. "I'm not dating anyone else."

"Don't lie to me," I hissed, stopping and turning to face him. "At least have the decency not to lie."

"I'm not lying," he said insistently. "Where did you get that ridiculous idea anyway?"

"Pansy Parkinson told me," I said after a momentary hesitation.

"And you believed her?" He laughed cruelly. "That girl has been in love with me since the start."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Our parents are friends and therefore thought it would be a good idea for Pansy and I to date," Draco said. "We did so for about a day. That's how long it took me to get her into bed. Then I lost interest and she's been clinging to me ever since."

"Charming," I snarled and he shrugged.

"You know of my reputation."

"All too well," I said before turning on my heel once more to leave. This time he didn't even try to stop me.

A/N: There you go! I'll try to have the next chapter up faster than I posted this one. I got and amazing amount of reviews for the last chapter, so let's do the same for this one, shall we?