"Well, you know what happened next."

Draco nodded. It was actually a pretty sweet thing to do, and he was just amazed that a guy like Ron could've thought of it. Well, it's probably the idea of that brother he has. Fred. Or was it George? It didn't matter, he decided. Only the fact that he did it and Hermione liked it.

"So I forgave him...how could I not?" It was more of a statement to herself than a question.

Then she was silent again. Draco knew she was getting to the part about what happened today, and he waited until she was ready.

Hermione took a deep breath. "Today was our anniversary. I thought he would remember, after all he did to convince me of his love. But no." At the last word, her voice quavered a little. He frowned in concern.

"I waited and waited. He didn't come. So I went to go look for him. At first I wasn't mad, I could've forgave him if he had just forgotten our anniversary. I wouldn't be happy, but I would've forgave him. I thought he might still be in the Griffindor common room and I found him there alright, but I'd never expected to see what I saw. He was there on a couch, but he wasn't alone. Someone was with him - or rather, under him."

Draco was quite surprised to hear that. Under? He didn't understand until she continued after a brief pause.

"Yes, I said under. I expected him to be doing other things, maybe working on an essay that's due tomorrow or just hanging around the common room. Never did I suspect that he would be making out with Lavender on the couch." Her voice was laced with pain and anger.

The Slytherin wanted to cry "No!" when she told him what she saw, but that would've sounded very stupid.

"Really, what was I suppose to do? I stood there, frozen, watching my boyfriend snog one of my friends. I couldn't believe my eyes at first. For a moment I felt nothing. Then I felt anger. How could he do this to me?" There was a glimmer in her eyes, and Draco realized that they were tears.

"Lavender was the first one to see me. She gasped and immediately sat up. Ron just looked dazed for a moment. Then when he saw me, his expression changed from bewilderment to shock to fear. He practically jumped away from Lavender. I raised my wand to hex him, but I...I couldn't do it. I turned and headed for the door. "

"He began to say something, but I wasn't listening. I didn't want to hear any more. I was such a fool to believe him. I could hear his footsteps behind me, but I didn't stop. He stopped following me after some time and I came back here. I felt so stupid, really. I was so stupid. He hurt me so much and I still couldn't bring myself to do something about it." The tears started to fall from her chocolate brown eyes.

Awkwardly, Draco tried to comfort her. It had always annoyed him greatly when girls cried before him, and he still did not know what to do when such a situation occured.

But today, something was different. Usually the reason he stopped a girl from crying was just to shut them up. This time, as he watched Hermione sob broken-hearted into her hands, he felt as if his heart was also aching, as if his heart was the one breaking. And he couldn't stand it anymore. He felt an unexplainable urge to protect her from whatever it was that was hurting her, and anything that will hurt her. At a loss of what to do after several minutes of talking, he did the only other thing he could think of at the moment.

He swept her into his arms.