Recap:

"What's going on? What's wrong with Draco?"

"He's saying that they can't leave."

"Well, they can't!!" Ginny told them. "Someone would notice if a lot of Slytherins suddenly disappeared." Hermione looked back at Blaise.

"But if they don't go..." Blaise fixed her with a stare.

"They can't. He'll just have to accept that."

"He doesn't accept anything," she murmured. She found Draco arguing with a bulky seventh year. "He's in pain. I can see it in his eyes..." Ginny gave Blaise a knowing look. Hermione sighed. "He'll be in more pain tonight, won't he?" Blaise merely nodded before moving away, leaving the two girls to their own thoughts.

It was the day before students were scheduled to leave for the Christmas holidays and Hermione was having trouble with Harry and Ron. Ron had obviously told Harry that Hermione had told Ginny about her summer, and it hadn't gone off too well with either of them, ending in a fight in the Gryffindor Common Room, in which Hermione stormed off from, to angry with her friends to even stay and finish it. Draco had backed off her when she came in to the Head Commons, seeing that she was in such a foul mood. They went to bed in silence and Draco listened to her cry herself to sleep. In the moring, he took a shower and then woke her up. She didn't seem to want to talk, so he left to go find Blaise. His night hadn't been to good, anyway.

He himself had been summoned by the Dark Lord and punished for his insubordination. He had come back at about two in the morning to find his wife still asleep.

Hermione now sat in the Great Hall alone, eating breakfast and reading Hogwarts, A History. Blaise walked in and, seeing that she was alone, strolled over, sitting down across from her. She gave him a small smile.

"How was last night?" she asked. "I left early." Blaise nodded.

"It was nice," he told her. "Ended it off with a snogfest in one of the broomclosets." Hermione wrinkled her nose.

"Keep those things to yourself, Blaise," she muttered. "You're becoming like Draco." Blaise laughed.

"I heard about your fight," he commented and she sighed.

"I don't get why they don't understand..."

"You've got to tell them sooner or later."

"Yes, but...oh, I don't know. I guess I'm just afraid of their reaction."

"You'll be afraid of their reaction if the find out about it and it's not from your lips. Draco isn't going to keep this a secret at the rate him and Ron are going at each other. He'll let it out eventually and then what are you going to do?" Hermione sighed, and turned to see Harry, Ron and Ginny walking in. Harry and Ron were muttering something to Ginny, who kept snapping back at them. Blaise eyed them but stayed seated. They froze in front of the table, the boys glaring hatred at the Slytherin.

"What are you doing here, Zambini?" Ron growled. Blaise eyed him up and down and shrugged.

"Eating. Is that a crime?"

"It is if it's at our table," Harry snarled. Blaise took a piece of toast off of Hermione's plate, bit into it and stood, winking at her.

"Later, Granger," he said and leaving to sit at the Slytherin table. Hermione watched him, thinking about what he said. She then turned to look at Ron and Harry. She stood, hands on hips.

"Well?" she asked, foot tapping impatiently. Ron frowned.

"Shouldn't we be asking that?" Ginny elbowed him and touched Hermione's arm.

"Look, Hermione. I know you promised Malfoy you wouldn't say anything, but I really think that your best friends deserve to know what happened over the summer. It's not fair to them that I know and they don't." Hermione stared at her for a moment and then over her shoulder.

"Draco," she said. Harry and Ron whirled around to be faced with Draco Malfoy. He had his arms over his chest and seemed to be very pissed off.

"Hermione," he snarled. "What the hell is going on here?" People were starting to come in, some of them with their trunks. The train left in fifteen minutes. She glared at him.

"I think I'm going to talk to my friends about what happened over the summer, if that's alright with you," she snapped. His eyes flamed but before he could say anything, his name was called out.

"Draco!! Draco, come on!!" Turning around, he caught sight of his whole house flooding into the Entrance Hall. Collin was motioning him over. He looked back at Hermione.

"Hermione, would you come with me for just a moment?" he grated out. Harry and Ron looked utterly confused. Why were these two mortal enemies refering to each other by their first names. Hermione stood her ground.

"No, I don't think so," she snapped. "They have a right to know!" His hand twitched.

"No, they don't."

"Draco-"

"Granger, don't make me hurt you." Ron had his wand out in a flash and ground it into Draco's neck.

"I'd like to see you try, Malfoy," he growled. Hermione pushed down his wand and poked Draco in the chest.

"They are my friends," she hissed. "And I am not going to lay down and let you tell me what to do." He wanted to hit her so badly right now. He wanted to use curses on her that would send even the best Auror quivering in his boots. And he knew she knew he wanted to. He had his hand around his wand.

"Granger," he whispered. "I am not in the mood to fight with you."

"Then don't." She turned on her heel and was about to speek when she was wrenched back by her hair. The whole Great Hall went quiet at her cry of pain. She could feel his breath on her ear as he spoke.

"Maybe I'm not making myself clear," he hissed. "You are not to talk about this until I tell you you can, understood?" She had had enough. Ignoring the pain in her head, she spun around and shoved him hard. He fell back but several Slytherins broke his fall, catching him and setting him back on his feet again.

"Well then, maybe I should make myself clear," she yelled at him. "If you ever touch me like that again, I will personally make sure that the Malfoy line does not continue beyond you. And trust me, you know I can make that happen. Don't you touch me like that ever again, do you understand me?" They glared at each other, a battle of wills taking place. She would not back down anymore. She was tired of being made out as a weakling to him, doing as he wanted, giving into him every time he touched her. It was driving her insane and she had had enough. She would make him kneel for her. She would drive him mad and drive him off if she wanted nothing to do with him. She would make him understand that this marriage was built on more than just sex and lies. She loved him and he knew that, but if this was going to work, they would have to make sacrifices and if he was going to keep acting like a jackass, she would make him pay with hell.

Straightening up, she fixed her hair and folded her arms over her chest.

"Now, why don't you go down to the train," Hermione told him. His chest was heaving and his fist were shaking in barely contained rage. How dare that BITCH!!!!!! Oh, she would pay for humiliating him in front of the student body, that he would make sure of. But what could he do now? Try and get near her, and he'd end up in bigger trouble with her than he already was in. Whirling around, he stormed out, the Slytherins following at a safe distance. Ginny was staring at Hermione, eyes wide.

"Um...Hermione? You ok?" Hermione glanced at her and took a deep breath.

"I'm fine, Ginny," she replied. "I'm just...I needed to get that off my chest." Ron was staring at her with a mixture of apprehension and awe.

"Wow, Hermione!" he exclaimed. "I never knew you could do that!!" She blushed slightly and took hold of her trunk.

"Come on, let's go to the train. We'll talk there."

Blaise entered the compartment that Draco had secluded himself to. He sat down across from the cross Slytherin.

"She was right, you know," he said after the train pulled off. Draco fixed him with a glare that said "Just keep on talking and see where it gets you". Blaise sighed and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes. "I finished getting those arrangements you asked for," he tried.

"For Christmas?"

"Yeah. I got five spots, with five minutes for the last one. There's a tour coming after you, so you'll need to make whatever you two might do up there quick." The door swung open and Collin poked his head in. Draco glared at him.

"What the hell do you want?" he snapped. Collin pointed down the hall.

"If I were you, I'd want to listen in on this, Malfoy," he said. Blaise stood and followed Collin down the hall, Draco grumbling in the rear. They stopped, though, upon hearing what was going on.

"HAVE YOU GONE STARK RAVING MAD!!!!"

"I didn't have a choice, Ronald! Stop yelling!"

"Stop yelling? STOP YELLING?!?! YOU JUST TOLD ME YOU'RE MARRIED TO DRACO FRIGGING MALFOY AND YOU WANT ME TO STOP YELLING!!??!!!"

"Ron, if you would just let me explain-"

"Explain WHAT?! How can you even begin to explain that?!"

"I didn't have a choice Ron!! It was magically bound, there's nothing anyone could have done to stop it!! It's not like I wanted to marry him!!"

"Oh really, and how am I supposed to believe you??"

"Ron, settle down! Let Hermione fini-"

"Shut up, Ginny! You knew and apparently, you're perfectly ok with this!!"

"Yes I am, Ron! Unlike you, I understand that Hermione didn't want this anymore than the rest of us but she couldn't help what happened!! She was forced and you can't condemn her for it!!"

"How can it be ok that Hermione married the ferret and that he touched her?!?"

"Harry, can't you under-"

"I'm sorry, Hermione, but I have to agree with Ron. Malfoy's our enemy and you're just ok with being with him!!"

"If you weren't listening, I'm telling you I wasn't!!"

"What the hell do you mean, you weren't?"

"I mean...Oh, what's the use!! You two aren't listening to me at all!!!" There was the sound of a compartment door opening and Hermione ran right into Draco. She stared at him for a moment and then shoved him out of the way. "This is all your fault!!" she screamed at him before rushing down the hall and into an empty compartment, slamming the door closed. Draco turned back around to find himself again faced with the business end of several wands. The hall was suddenly bristling with many Gryffindors and friend of Gryffindors.

"You're dead, Ferret," Ron spat. Draco glared at him.

"What are you going to do, Weasley? Kill me for marrying your girlfriend? Trust me, I didn't want her anymore than she wanted me."

"You're speaking in past tense, Malfoy," Seamus growled.

"Well, I was meaning to speak that way," Draco snapped back. He shoved the wands away from him. "I haven't done anything wrong in this whole equation, so why don't you try examining yourself before speaking." With that, he spun on his heel and marched down to the compartment where Hermione was. Motioning for Blaise and Collin to go away, he walked in, closing the door behind him.

Hermione glanced at him and then returned to the window.

"You're not dead," she observed. "What a pity."

"A shame."

"Go away, Malfoy. I'm not in the mood for you."

"Well, I think you handled telling your friends about marrying me very well."

"Go away, Draco."

"What next? You going to tell them about when we make love?"

"Go away!!"

"Or maybe you'd like to tell them about where you go every time you're not in class." He caught her hand before it touched his face. She had tears in her eyes and he let go of her. She turned away from him, angrilly brushing away the tears.

"Just go away," she whispered. He watched her silently and moved over to sit next to her. Making sure that the curtains on the door window were shut, he pulled her into him, kissing her forehead.

"I told you not to," he whispered. She sighed and looked up at him. Again, they were pulled into each others eyes. He stroked her face gently and leaned in, kissing her softly. She pulled away after a moment and bit her lip.

"I really messed things up, didn't I?" Draco nodded, smirking evily.

"We can still fix it." She rolled her eyes, pushing him away from her.

"Not now, Draco." He nuzzled her neck and she pushed him away again. "Stop! Draco, listen to me!! STOP!!!" She managed to shove him onto the floor, where he lay, glaring up at her. She flipped her hair. "I told you I was serious back there. Now stop!" He got up off the floor, slightly peeved.

"This whole tough wife thing," he growled. "Not working."

"Well this whole horny husband thing, not working either."

"You have a way with words."

"Am I turning you on?"

"Yes."

"Well then, go find a corner and work it off."

"That's wrong on so many levels, do you know that?"

"Well then, sit there and wait it out."

"You could come and help me with that."

"You really are scaring me, you know that?"

"Am I? Is it a turn on?"

"No, so stop. Ugh, I can't wait to see your mother. Anything but listening to you on this train."

"Why don't you go find..." He trailed off and they sat in silence. She finally fell asleep, her head on his lap. He stroked her hair gently and groaned. "You really are falling for her, Malfoy," he grumbled to himself. "Next, you're going to see Severus dancing the Macerena and the Dark Lord running around in frilly knickers." He shuddered. "She's right, you do have wrong thoughts."

Ginny watched as the two boys paced in the small compartment, getting dizzy at their movements.

"Boys, sit down, please!!" she cried. They glanced at her and did as she said. She sighed. "Look, I know what you heard just now is shocking, but you need to hear Hermione out! She didn't want to tell you guys immediately because she was still trying to figure out what was going on in her own life. How would you feel if your father got you married to your worst enemy?!" Ron glared.

"But look at her! She's acting like she doesn't care anymore!!"

"Because she doesn't!! Damn it Ron, can't you see?! She's falling in love with Draco, even though they're supposed to hate each other!!" Ron gaped. "They've been through more than you know, so get past your hate for him and see her side of the story!!" Ron stood.

"I can't believe she would love that...that bastard!! He's the enemy!!!"

"He's her HUSBAND!!!" Harry grabbed her arm.

"Why are you so quick to defend her?!!"

"Because nobody else will!! If you weren't so blinded by hate for Slytherins, you'd see that they're not all bad people!!"

"They??" Ginny blinked and inwardly cursed herself. "What the hell do you mean they??" She rolled her eyes.

"So I've talked to a few of them!! So what?!"

"So WHAT??! GINNY!! What the hell...what the hell is wrong with you girls?!" Ginny puffed up.

"Don't you talk to me like that, Harry Potter!!" she yelled at him. "And there is nothing wrong with me!! Just because I'm friendly with a couple Slytherins doesn't make it wrong!!"

"You've been friendly with them?" Ron gaped. "Have you lost your mind?!"

"Ron, just...ARGH!! You're so frustrating!! No wonder Hermoine stopped liking you!!! Draco's not the bastard, you are!!!"