PART II

Hermione clenched her teeth to prevent the angry scream from leaving her mouth. Ron was trying to be civil with her! With her! Was he really that stupid to not understand that she was angry with him not because he stopped talking to her but because he was with Lavender and not her?!

The angry tears began to fall and Hermione made no move to stop them. Muttering to herself angrily, she pushed open the door to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and just as she was praying that Draco Malfoy wasn't in there, her eyes met his.

She felt the anger boil within her more furiously.

"Not again!" she cried, angrily wiping away the tears.

But suddenly she was slammed into the back of the door roughly. With the growl of a wild animal, Malfoy was kissing her. It was harsh and demanding, almost like he was trying desperately to save himself.

o

When Draco had seen her walk into the bathroom, he'd felt a rush of anger, wondering if the girl ever got the idea that this was his place. Noticing the tears he felt the urge to cause pain, tear out his hair and scream at her. But instead he saw a new form of relief; relief that he knew he would regret later.

Grabbing her by the shoulders, he slammed her against the door that had just slammed closed and harshly leant forward to capture her lips in his.

Angrily, he kissed her, knowing that he would be leaving bruises and not caring. He stepped in closer to her, biting down on her bottom lip, demanding access. The fact that he was kissing the Gryffindor Mudblood Hermione Granger did not register; he only knew that every brutal kiss he gave her caused him liberation and satisfaction.

Drawing away, he took in her appearance. Her bushy hair had fallen from the ponytail it had been in and it looked singed and electrified. Hermione stood with her lips apart and wide, terrified eyes, taking in Draco's face. The tears were gone; Draco imagined this was from the shock of what just happened.

Without a second thought Hermione raised her hand and slapped it harshly across Draco's cheek, feeling the pain surge through her own hand and she turned away. She furiously swung open the door and ran out it. Draco followed her, wand raised ready to fight but she had already dashed around the corner.

Heading back into his sanctuary, he stared at himself in the mirror beside the one he had previously broken and took a deep breath. He was now ready to head back to the Room of Hidden Things.

o

Hermione darted into the first classroom she could find. Slamming her own body against the back of the door, she broke down in hysterical tears and slid down the length of it to the floor. Wiping her lips with the back of her hand she winced, feeling the bruises rising. Sobbing violently, she tried dearly to catch her breath but it was no use.

Curling up hopelessly on the cold stone floor, she let memories of the past few weeks fill her mind. Whether it was Ron's attraction to Lavender or Malfoy's recent attack, it only caused her to sob harder.

Finally letting out a strangling breath, she tried to recompose herself. Sitting up, she wiped at her wet cheeks and tear-filled eyes, desperately hoping that soon her misery would end.

o

Draco sat by the Cabinet, tapping hopelessly at it with his wand. It was no use. Despite feeling better after his confrontation with Granger, it was not helping him any in achieving his goal. Gritting his teeth, he gave the Cabinet a harsh tap and it vibrated slightly.

Sitting back in frustration, he looked around at the room before him. Nothing but old tables, books and forbidden ornaments surrounded him. There was no one to keep him from going insane. He couldn't even let Crabbe and Goyle join him in trying to fix the cabinet; not that they would be much of a help.

Kicking at the Cabinet, he felt very little strength within his body; the days he had spent, tediously trying to fix a Cabinet that he was sure was irreparable was causing him to grow tired. His stomach gave a great grumble but he ignored it as he once again raised his wand and desperately hoped that this time – this time a hundred days since he'd discovered it – was the time he might actually get it right.

He let out a great cry of misery when – once again – his attempt proved unsuccessful.

o

The next day, Draco roamed the halls desperately for the girl he had sought solace in the night before. He needed her to diminish the frustration that was growing more and more unbearable within him by the minute. Turning the corner into the dungeon corridor, he sighed to himself as he saw her waiting outside Professor Slughorn's office.

"Granger," Draco sneered in acknowledgement, taking in her appearance with satisfaction.

Her hair looked more unruly than ever, her lips were still slightly puffy and her cheeks were pale beneath lifeless eyes that had suddenly gone wide in terror at his appearance.

Draco did not hesitate before he pushed her against the closest stone wall and started kissing her roughly. He heard her let out a gasp but he only kissed her harder and deeper; he never thought that kissing Hermione Granger would have such an affect on him. He'd kissed Pansy a hundred times but not once did it relieve his frustration as much as the Gryffindor Mudblood did.

He pulled away roughly and looked at her; this time she was crying and looking at him with questioning eyes. Draco merely leant in and kissed her again, contented by the sobs that drew from the girl before him. He knew deep down it was wrong to find such contentment in her pain but the evil that had overcome him begged him not to stop.

Drawing back once again, Draco noticed that the tears were starting to diminish and frowned at the girl.

"Malfoy –" Hermione choked.

"This isn't what you think, Granger," Draco ground out carefully, observing her vigilantly and feeling some guilt from what he was putting her through.

"So this isn't your sick way of relieving the pressure?" Hermione asked, her voice cracking slightly.

"Well it is what you think it is than, Granger."

As Hermione nodded numbly, Draco tried not to acknowledge just how smart the girl was; if she could read him so easily than perhaps she could work out what his plans were and why he was so frustrated.

Draco went to draw away, but Hermione grabbed the front of his robes and held him there. "Where are you going?" she hissed and her lips were on his kissing him with the same measure of brutality that he had used on her a moment ago. Draco did not move away, impressed by the harshness of the girl. She sucked his bottom lip into his mouth and after sucking on it hard she bit down on it and continued to kiss him, her lips hurting with the hardness of it.

"Granger –" Draco rasped out when she pulled away and looked at him with fire in her eyes, her teeth clenched and a look of triumph slowly taking over her features. "What was that?"

"That, Malfoy, was my getting revenge on Ronald Weasley for being a heartless toe-rag," Hermione stated matter-of-factly. "Not that he'll ever know I did it."

"Satisfaction is a surprising thing, isn't it Granger?" Malfoy smirked, his opinion of the girl going up a notch.

"It's no more surprising than the brutality in which you first introduced this satisfying kissing game, Malfoy."

With that Hermione left, feeling Draco's penetrating gaze burning into her back.

o

Hermione sat in her dormitory, trying desperately not to listen to Lavender's recollection of her night spent with Ron. As Parvati let out a loud giggle, Hermione rolled her eyes, stood up from her bed and stalked out of the dormitory. It had been three weeks since she had encountered Malfoy in the dungeon corridor and since than Hermione had returned to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom several times to let out her sorrows in the presence of Draco Malfoy.

She and Malfoy rarely spoke on these occasions; they had taken to understand exactly why the other was there and although each of them would have preferred not having to relieve their burdens in such a manner, they both found that nothing else was quite as satisfying.

Striding through the common room, she ignored Ron and Harry who sat together on the couch and headed straight through the portrait. She heard a "Where are you going?" from Harry right before the portrait closed but did not answer.

"It's getting late, Dear," The Fat Lady scolded at her retreating back.

"Duties," Hermione muttered and she kept walking.

Hermione was thankful that there were no more interruptions as she slowly made her way down to the second floor girl's bathroom. Stopping in front of the door, she let out a deep breath and pushed it open.

She was disappointed to find the bathroom empty. Walking forward she turned on the hot water faucet and winced at the heat that came out of it but she did not withdraw her hands. Steam rose and she withdrew them, the tears she had been holding since sitting in her dormitory finally falling from her eyes and into the grimy basin.

She was shaking violently as she let out great sob after sob. Looking at her reflection in the mirror she felt a need to smash the glass but restrained herself from doing so. Wiping harshly at her eyes and cheeks, she only faintly heard the bathroom door opening.

She let out a short gasp as she was violently turned around and lifted so she was sitting on the edge of the basin and looking into the blotchy face of Draco Malfoy.

His eyes were dark and watery, his cheeks were flushed and he seemed to be fighting to keep his lips from trembling.

Moving forward, he was suddenly kissing her and Hermione felt the contentment wash over her instantly as he grazed his teeth across her bruised lips.