HELLO EVERYONE! So this is chapter 6 and it has 6 pages (go figure) This chapter is entirely dedicated to Jasmin. She is amazing, I love her. Burnt Toast and yes, they will do it. 3 3
If you are going to read this, please R&R! It would mean a lot. NO FLAMES PLEASE! Just constructive criticism.

Sorry for the long wait, I had a Draco Malfoy essay to write.

I don't own Harry Potter, just the idea for this fic. If I owned JK Rowling, I'd live in Scotland and be rolling in cash… life would be brilliant.

"What do you mean, kill you?" I noticed him sit up a little further in his chair.

"That's what he's trying to do, isn't it? Kill me? Or at least drive me insane" I told the blond boy sitting across from me. He picked up the mug of what appeared to be cold coffee of butterbeer, which wouldn't have tasted very nice. I pulled out my wand and waved it in a semi-circle over his mug until stem started to rise from it and it began to burn his hands, he put it back on the coffee table with a small thud before lifting his head to speak to me.

"How do you do that?" He asked me, I looked puzzled. "How do you manage to cast perfect spells even under pressure, even when there are bigger more important things on your mind?"

"I. . . I don't know. I guess I've just never really thought about it." I shrugged.

"Not even when you were learning new spells?" He asked leaning back in his chair, stretching his arms over his head.

"No, I guess I just did as they said and it came easily to me."

"Have you always been this gifted?" He smiled at the slightly shocked look on my face. Was he complementing me?

"No, I wasn't the top of any classes at my old Muggle school but I wasn't at the bottom either. When I came here I wanted to prove to my parents that I was smart and so I got stuck in straight away." I confessed.

"Really? Tell me about these Muggle schools" He leaned forward, clearly he was trying to take my mind of things and it was working too. Soon I was explaining to him what a swing set was and about how our school canteens and assembly's worked. He pulled a few faces sometimes but I just laughed them off, yes I laughed. We talked for about an hour before we got down to some more serious stuff.

"So, what did you want to do tonight?" He asked, his breathing slightly heavy due to the excessive laughing he had done while I was explaining a T.V to him.

"I don't want to talk about today" I said, that was what I wanted to be the last thing on my mind.

"How about what has been stressing you out?" He asked, picking up his pad paper and pen again, looking serious.

"Well, there is all the Head Girl duties but I can't get out of those, I've got a lot more homework than normal which is keeping me up later at night and when I do get a few hours rest, it's usually interrupted by a nightmare and I can't get back to sleep." I told him, leaning back in the chair, did it feel softer than last time? Probably not, probably just my tired and sore bones sinking into the plush cushioning.

"What about Potter and Weasley?" He asked

"What about them?"

"Are you still doing their homework?"

"I- Well, yes I guess. I don't do quite as much as I used to but I do more of Ron's than Harry's, he never stays up-to-date with his work, especially potions" And there it was again, that feeling that I could tell this man anything and everything and know that not another soul would hear about it.

"Have you told them you can't help them anymore?" He wanted to know. Evidently not

"How can I? If they fail all their classes then they won't get anywhere. They are my best friends, I can't let them fail all their classes!" I told them.

"But if the situation was reversed?" He asked, tapping his quill against the pad paper and it suddenly occurred to me that I had no idea where he got normal pad paper from.

"What do you mean?" I asked

"If you weren't doing well in a class but Potter or Weasley were, would they be as willing to help you?" I thought about it for a few minutes. It was actually a good question. If I was the one that struggled would they help me?

"No, no I don't think they would." I said honestly. I looked up at him through my eye lashes and noticed for the first time that his white button up school shirt had two buttons undone and I could only just see the top of his chest, I could see he'd gotten his Quidditch muscle back and I had an unnerving desire to run my hands over his chest.

"Earth to Granger" Draco said waving his hand in my face and I was snapped back into reality, what was I thinking, thinking those things about Malfoy!

"Sorry, what?" I asked, Draco was just shaking his head.

"I said that you need to tell them that you can't keep helping them. Let them down slowly though so just stop doing as much instead of stopping all together. I'm not asking you to let the witless wonders fail class but don't let them lean on you" He said and for some reason I didn't even care that he insulted my best friend.

"Yeah, yeah maybe I should. I've got seven essays all at various lengths and I can't do my own and Harry and Ron's, help Ginny, do all the things I need to do for Head Girl duties and keep on helping Madam Pince in the library." I said, when I looked at Draco, I noticed him staring at me, mouth agape.

"You do all that?" He asked, I nodded. "And you don't sleep?" He wanted to know.

"I do, but for about half an hour, an hour a night before the nightmares get too much" I muttered. Draco looked at his watch and his eyes grew in shock.

"Is that the time? You better be going Granger, it's nearly midnight and I'd hate to steal your half hour of sleep" As he spoke, I wasn't sure if he was being a smartass or not. I thought about asking but decided against it.

"This is the last time we'll do this before the holidays, isn't it?" I asked as he gathered his things and levitated his now empty mug to the sink; this room really is all decked out.

"Yes, I presume you are one of the few taking the train?" He asked, I nodded. "Well, Merry Christmas, Granger." He said before leaning towards me and kissing me on the cheek. As he left the room, leaving the door open behind him, I placed my hand over my cheek, unsure what to make of his kiss.

I didn't actually get to sleep until about two o'clock. I'd sat in the common room for a little bit, completing my potions and Arithmacy essay before my eyes could no longer stay open. Rubbing my eyes, I leaned back on the couch and allowed the warmth of the fire to rush over me. I began to think about Malfoy's kiss. It didn't make sense, why had he kissed me on the cheek? Normally when he says good bye to me, he waves and leaves, not once has he alluded to there being anything more. I rubbed at my eyes again. Too much had gone on today and I was reading far too into this. It was just a peck, he was simply worried about me after what had happened to me today. I piled my books up in my arms and as I headed up the stairs I heard something behind me, unable to make it out I continued on my way to the girls dormitory when the sound came again but this time, it was followed by a cough. I flung my head around to see who had made the noise to see him standing against the wall.

"Hello Princess" He said just loud enough for me to hear. I wanted to scream but it seemed like someone or something had put a stopper in my throat. He sauntered across the room to me, reached out and grabbed my arm, I went to scream again, feeling my voice returning, but his hand was over my mouth before even a squeak could escape.

"Don't scream, lovely. You'll just make things worse for yourself" He pulled my arm and my books went cascading to the floor with a loud bang. I had hoped beyond all hope that someone had heard it. He yanked at my arm again, pulling me to the middle of the common room, his fingers digging into my skin, there would be a bruise there in the morning. He threw me onto the couch, bad move. I went to grab my wand but with a flick of his wrist it went flying from my hand.

"Uh, uh, uh" he tutted, shaking a finger at me. He was so close now that I could feel his breath against my face, a hand was shaking my arm and someone was saying my name over and over again. That's when I woke up.

"Hermione, Hermione! Wake up!" A thick Scottish accent yelled at me. My eyes shot open and I saw three worried faces looking down at me. One belonging to my red headed friend, Ginny. The next face I came upon was the one that belonged to the voice that awoke me, Professor McGonagall and the third was Katie Bell, who had come back to complete school properly and shared my room.

"Miss Granger, are you alright?" Professor McGonagall asked. I looked at her confused for a few seconds before I realised I must have said something in my sleep. I looked down at myself, noticing that my blankets were down around my feet and some were stained with blood. When I looked at my long sleeved pyjamas I noticed my left sleeve was drenched in blood. Some of the scabs must have come off during my tossing and turning. I sat up, hand on head to steady my self, I felt a little dizzy.

"What happened?" I asked, I looked between the three woman standing around my bed, Professor McGonagall looked at Katie for the answer.

"Well, I couldn't sleep because I was thinking about Christmas holidays when I saw you tossing and turning. I figured you were just having another one of your bad dreams until you screamed. Then I saw the blood and you screamed again. You were saying something as well; 'Please stop' I think it was" Katie finished with a shrug. I buried my face in my hands and let a few tears slip out.

"Miss Granger. We need to talk." Professor McGonagall stared pointedly at my two friends and they left the room. The first thing she did was cast a couple of spells on the room. A silencing charm as well as locking the door.

"What time is it?" I asked, my voice muffled from my hands

"Nearly half one" she replied. I felt her wait on the side of my bed, he hand reached out to touch my shoulder but I pulled back out of instinct. For her credit, she didn't look hurt. "Did something happen today that I should know about?" I looked up to her and wiped my eyes on my clean sleeve.

"Malfoy told you, didn't he?" I sniffed.

"Yes, he did. I don't want you to be mad though, he did the right thing. Why didn't you tell me, Hermione?" She asked, concern flooding her features.

"Because I didn't want to worry you" I lied. In truth, I just didn't like the thought of more people knowing what had happened, I wanted to prove I was strong by handling it myself.

"I'm here to listen to you, Hermione. Did you want to go to the hospital wing to get cleaned up?" She asked.

"No, I want to go for a walk if that's okay" I said, swinging my legs over the side of my bed, she nodded and helped me with my dressing gown. She lifted the spells, and opened the door for me, letting me out. I thanked her and headed straight for the Fat Lady's portrait. I heard Professor McGonagall talking to Ginny and Katie, telling them I was going for a walk and to go to bed. I didn't know where I was headed. I let my heart guide the way to the place where I knew I was safest. About ten minutes later I found myself outside Malfoy's private bed room. All the Heads had one, I had one but I gave it up in favour of sharing a room with someone else. I lifted my arm to knock of his door, the bloody sleeve of my pyjamas clinging to my arm and annoying me. I knocked three times, hoping he was awake. I heard feet shuffling inside, and the sound of a door being unlocked. When it opened, there stood Draco Malfoy in nothing but his boxer shorts, his chest was as muscly and beautiful as I thought and the need to touch him ran through me again. His eyes were heavy with sleep and when he spoke his voice was groggy.

"Granger, what are you-" His eyes connected with my arm and he noticed the blood, then looked at my face seeing my tear stained face. "Fuck, what happened?" He opened the door and lead me into the room. It was large enough to fit a small kitchenette, two couches, a coffee table, and there were two doors leading off the room presumably a bathroom and a bed room. I sat myself on one of the black leather couches and he was quick to my side, placing a hand on either side of my face causing me too flinch.

"What happened? Let me see" He said, removing his hands from my face. He sounded so calm and it was slightly unnerving. I slowly pulled up my sleeve, cringing slightly as it pulled at my skin where it had stuck. What I saw was not quite what I'd expected. Of the six scars on my arm the only one that had started bleeding was the one reading 'Mudblood'. All the self-inflicted ones, that were still only about two weeks old, had all lost their scabs and had bleed for what appeared to be a longish period of time. And here I was thinking they had started to heal.
As Malfoy pulled out his wand to heal them and clean the blood, I realised he was the first person who has ever seen my scars, save Professor McGonagall.

"You know, when McGonagall told me that you had harmed, I thought she meant a few cuts, not very deep etc but it appears I was wrong" He said as he healed the second scar.

"Wait, she didn't you I attempted to. . . " I trailed off, looking confused.

"To kill yourself? No, she didn't. She asked me to help because you'd selfharmed but I started to think that you may have attempted suicide during our first talk together." He said moving on to the next one.

"Really?"

"Yes" I nodded and leaned back, closing my eyes for a few seconds, giving a deep sigh. I opened my eyes again to see Malfoy had finished and was staring at me.

"Do you want to go back to bed? I can walk you?" I shook my head at his words. The last thing I wanted to do was go back to my dormitory and face my friends who were no doubt bursting with questions.

"Can I just stay here, on the couch?" I asked.

"No way. You are not sleeping on my couch. If you are going to stay here you are taking the bed" Who knew Draco Malfoy had all these manors.

"I can't take your bed, Malfoy. What happens if my arm starts bleeding again?" I asked

" Look, Granger. I really don't care. It's just some bed sheets. I don't mind sleeping on a couch" He said and I wondered if he'd slept on a couch before.

"No, I'll feel bad, really, Malfoy. I'll sleep on the couch, I've slept on worse things before. " I smiled. After a couple of minutes in silence he agreed but told me I couldn't sleep in my bloodied top.

"Well than what AM I going to sleep in?" I asked.

"Hold on a second" Malfoy left the room and went through into what I guessed was his bedroom. It took him about three or four minutes before he came back holding an emerald green t-shirt with the Slytherin emblem on the front.

"Here you go" He said handing it too me. I looked up at, my eyebrows raised.

"What do you want me to do with that?" I asked, taking the shirt out of his hands and holding up against me. It came to about mid-thigh and even though I knew it would be too big for me, it would still probably be a little bit tight.

"Wear it, Granger" he rolled his eyes at me and tried to stop himself laughing at me when he saw the look on my face. "It won't kill you, you know. Go in there and put it on" He told me pointing to the other door. I walked over to it, turned the nob and was pleasantly surprised. The bathroom that I presumed would be green and silver to represent Malfoy's house was a very neutral black and white. The bath was white with black tiles on the floor and walls, it was a nice size and looked similar to my own, except the colours were reversed. I pulled off my own shirt and pyjama shorts and pulled his green one. It came to mid-thigh as predicted and was way too big, it bulged everywhere but I didn't care. It was warm and it smelt like him; parchment, toothpaste and freshly mown grass. Who knew that when I smelt Amortentia I smelt Draco not Ron? I shrugged and looked at myself in the mirror above his sink. I looked a lot paler than usual and my eyes had dark rings around them. My hair was flying everywhere. Malfoy must have thought I looked a right state. I looked as bad as I felt. The skin on my left arm looked paler than the rest dur to the red lines that covered it, it was quite ghastly to look at. I left the room to see Draco had retrieved a couple of dark green pillows and a thick blanket that was the same green as the shirt I had on. I was in the couch that was closest to fire with my head furthest away from the fire so my head didn't get too hot.

"Thanks, Malfoy. This means a lot" I said. He nodded, straightening out the last wrinkle in the bedding.

"Anytime, Granger. I'll be going to bed, yell if you need me. Night" he smiled, I smiled back and snuggled into the bedding. I rested my arms behind my head and looked up at the celling, sighing. I stared at the celling for a long time, noticing the intricate gold and silver lines that swirled together to form vines and leaves against the dark black. Each leaf was colored in deep red, emerald green or alternating between silver and gold. I noticed they changed between the two. Red with silver and green with red and I was instantly reminded of Gryffindor. I made a note to check the celling in my own room tomorrow.

It was probably half an hour later and I was cold and I couldn't sleep. I'd tried sleeping on my left, my right, my stomach and my back, nothing worked. I wondered for a moment if I should have taken the bed. I sighed deeply and sat up, yawning. I was more tired tonight than I had been in a while. I stood up, leaving the blankets hanging off the side of the couch and made my way across the room to Malfoy's bed room door. I thought about knocking but decided against it, I turned the nob finding it unlocked and pushed it open, silently. Draco had his back to the wall, was facing the wall. His bed was quite large and he looked really peaceful. He still didn't have a shirt on but I didn't care. I tip-toed to the bed and pulled the blankets back a little, making sure not to make too much noise, I slipped under the covers and wrapped my arms under one of the pillows. I wondered what Malfoy will think when he wakes up in the morning. As if I'd said his name out loud and he'd heard me, he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled my back flush to his stomach. I was warm and I didn't even think about anything that had happened in my past the only thing I thought of as I drifted off to sleep was that I was safe and the why he'd sighed my name before he too, feel asleep.

Well, what does everyone think? This is my longest chapter, but it's still not too long I know. I didn't intend this chapter to go this way, it just did. Next chapter will be… slow maybe… I don't know but Hermione is spending Christmas at the Weasley house. Should be intresting… I hope it wont take too long to get it up! I hope everyone had fun celebrating Tom Felton's birthday, I know I did ;)