Author's Note: Don't own.
Ica: yes, you definitely were my first reviewer! Thank you for actually doing so. I live in reviews and it keeps me going with the story :) I hope to answer your questions in my fanfic! I'm pretty much just thinking of things as I go along. I hope you keep reviewing my chapters! I'm glad you're finding it interesting so far!
Chapter Two: Alone
Draco woke up to see Hermione still awake as she leaned against him tiredly. He watched as her eyes were about to close and she instantly forced them open again. It pained him to see her like this, too scared to sleep, and just about skin and bones. Her weight against him felt like practically nothing at all.
"Granger… come on, you need to sleep."
She looked up at him as Draco repositioned himself on the couch so she had space to lie down. There was silence between them and Hermione felt a familiar dizziness overcome her suddenly. She didn't know it was from not eating or from not sleeping, but she was too afraid to do either right now.
"I… don't want to…" her voice replied faintly.
Draco sighed, running a hand through his blonde hair. He looked at her now and took out his phone and a piece of paper. "Is there anyone who can watch over you?"
This shook Hermione out of her wave of dizziness and distortion. "Why… can't you watch over me?"
"Because… I just can't. I don't need to justify my reasons."
She stood up now weakly, feeling her chest tightening painfully. "No! Y-You promised I was safe here… you promised that you'd keep me safe! Why did that change?"
Draco also stood up now, feeling defensive at her outburst. "Because your family should be looking after you! Not me! You barely know me! What am I to you? I'm practically a stranger that you happened to see again on the street! It's like we're close friends or anything. You need your family!"
"I don't have aWhat am I to you? I'm practically a stranger that you happened to see again on the street! It's like we're close friends or anything. You need your family!"
"I don't have any family! My family doesn't give a shit about me! And we may not be close, but goddamnit, we are close enough! You healed me! You could've let him rape and kill me! You're not the same Draco Malfoy from school. You're better than that now! Don't tell me that… don't tell me that you're practically a stranger to me because I don't see it like that!"
Draco froze, his heart sinking into the pits of his stomach. "Does your family really not care about you?" He asked softly.
Hermione relaxed a little but still tried to regain her balance. "No, they don't care. My father threw me out of the house last week. I've been on my own ever since."
He took in this information and rubbed the back of his neck unsurely. Draco bit his lip and then looked back up at her. "Fine… you can stay here then, but you need to eat."
This made her instantly shake her head. "I don't want to eat," she said casually. "Just… let me be. I can take care of myself."
Draco snorted in disbelief now and chuckled. "Yeah, you've clearly made that apparent. You almost got killed and you're starving yourself."
"Look, I'm not your stupid problem to deal with. You don't have to fix me, and I don't want you to try. I just want you to leave me alone."
Draco shook his head. "You don't understand, Granger. As long as you're under my roof, you are my problem. If you want to be left alone, you're welcome to leave, but Merlin knows I can't let you starve yourself to death. I won't be held responsible for that."
Hermione was quiet for a long time before she started to walk towards him, but then the dizziness overwhelmed her and she went hurtling towards the floor. He caught her just in time and then gently laid her on the couch again.
"Your stubbornness hasn't changed, I see. Just lay here; I'm going to go get something light for you to eat."
She was about to protest but to her dismay, found that he was already in the kitchen. She rolled on her side and whimpered silently, feeling the sharp hunger pangs. Hermione shivered the lack of body fat on her failing to keep her warm. When Draco came back with a bowl, she felt fear fill her up again. She bit her lip hard, eyeing him with curiosity.
"It's just some fruit. I figured I'd start you off with something light and get some vitamins into your body. You don't have to eat it all, but I do want to see you eat a lot of it, if possible," Draco said in a soft voice, handing her the vanilla colored bowl.
She took it from him with both hands and peered inside to see sliced bananas, strawberries, and raspberries. The sweet smell filled her nostrils and she started to welcome it. Hermione grabbed a ruby strawberry and slipped it in her mouth before she began chewing it. The actual action of eating seemed so overwhelming, it almost made her nauseous. She looked at him wearily now and set the bowl down, glancing at him with apologetic eyes.
"It's alright. It must have been too much for you too soon. I'm sorry. Just eat some whenever you feel like it. I'm not going to shove it down your throat. I just don't want you to die here. I don't to feel guilty and make me feel like I didn't do enough to try to save you."
Hermione felt tears well in her eyes and looked at him. "Draco… I'm not going to die…"
"You are if you continue to take your pills and starve yourself."
"I-I'll eat the fruit but… you can't push me to eat all of it. This is difficult for me, alright? You don't understand, Draco."
He now laughed a cold, hard laugh of disbelief. "I don't understand? No, Granger. It's you who doesn't understand. I had a sister! She had anorexia from our father always telling her she wasn't good enough! That she wasn't skinny enough! When she died, she weighed 93 pounds… and it's not like our parents ever paid attention to us so they never noticed that she had stopped eating! Don't you dare tell me that I don't understand because I do! I think I do more than anyone!"
This silenced Hermione again and she quickly wiped at a fallen tear that had escaped from her eyes, and when she looked back up at Draco, she was surprised to see tears falling mutely from his own eyes.
Later that night, Hermione sat on the bed in the room Draco had designated for her, and looked down at her hands shamefully. She shouldn't have gotten Draco upset and given him a hard time. He was just trying to help her and didn't want Hermione to end up like his sister. She hated herself. She was always screwing things up.
Just then, there were three gently taps at her door. She looked up to see Draco peeking his head.
"I'm sorry, Granger."
She shook her head and then looked down at her lap. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't know about your sister. I wish I could've met her. I didn't mean to say that you don't understand but… it's true. You really don't understand until you have the illness. She understood, and it's difficult to explain reasoning behind it to someone who doesn't live it every day."
He was quiet for awhile before he rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. "I guess you're right. You know, my sister… she got frustrated at me for trying to get to eat too. She always told me how I don't understand," he chuckled softly in his reminisce.
Hermione smiled gently. "She sounded like a smart girl. I'm sorry…"
Draco cleared his throat now and nodded in politeness. "Yeah, umm… can I ask you a couple questions? I mean, if you're going to be living with me, I need to know more about you."
Hermione watched cautiously as Draco walked towards her and then sat on the bed beside her. "Like what? What could you want to know that you didn't find out in school?"
Draco bit his lip, as if he was trying to choose his words carefully. He shrugged and tried to relax but started to fidget with his hands.
"I don't know… like, why is Harry doing this to you? Why is he suddenly trying to… to rape you? You two were best friends in school. That's something I don't understand."
Hermione sighed softly and turned to face him, searching his eyes. "Me and Harry started going out in our last year, and… almost as soon as we did, he tried to get into my pants any chance he got. It didn't stop… and then I found out that all he wanted from me was sex. We broke up, and after school finished, I went back home. My parents told me I couldn't live with them anymore, and forced me to stay out so… I got a job, if you can call it that."
"Granger, that's not a job. Selling your body like you are is just asking for trouble. There are a lot of bad men out there who would hurt you just because they can, and you're basically inviting them to do that."
She ran her fingers through her caramel colored locks. "I did what the only option that was open to me was! I didn't have a choice, Draco…"
He stood up quickly now and laughed almost callously. "You didn't have a choice? You could've gotten a job at the Ministry, been a secretary, or been a librarian at Hogwarts! You had every opportunity to have been something better!"
She shook her head now and looked up at him. "You don't understand! No one's going to hire a non-recovering anorexic! They're going to take one look at me, know what I am, and put me in hospital!"
Draco suddenly pushed over a nearby chair, sending it to the floor. "Then recover, Granger! Get a proper job! Stop this anorexic shit and pull yourself together!"
Hermione jumped at his sudden temper flare up but then felt frustration rise up from somewhere within her, forcing her to stand up. "Yeah! Alright, Draco! I'll just recover then! I'll just suddenly stop being anorexic and get my shit together! You really don't get it, do you? You're so ignorant! It makes me so furious!"
"But it's true, Granger! It's true! You need a real job instead of one that requires you to whore yourself out on the fucking street!"
The words stung Hermione and she felt hurt and sadness replace her anger. She felt weak and small now. "So I'm a whore now?"
Draco looked into her eyes and realized his mistake. "No. Granger, I didn't mean that."
"The hell you didn't! You're all the same! You and my parents and everyone! God… do you even hear yourself when you talk?" Hermione clutched the insides of her sleeves before she tried to hold back a soft cry.
Draco stepped closer to her now and reached out to grab her hand. "Wait, hold on… can we just talk?"
Hermione took a step back from him and shook her head. "No! No, we can't! Every word you said is ice and just makes me hurt all over again!"
She started out of the room now, fogged with fatigue and exhaustion, before starting towards the main door. She heard quick footsteps behind her and attempted to walk faster but Draco grabbed her arms firmly.
"Stop it! Don't fucking touch me, Draco!"
He let go of her now, his back to him, but still watched Hermione. "Where are you going to go? You're going to die out there!"
Hermione opened the door now and turned around to face him, fear and anger laced in her eyes. "Better to die out there with strangers than to die in here with someone I hate."
With that, she hurried out and slammed the door behind her, leaving Draco all alone in the empty apartment.
I apologize for the shortness of this one. I promise I'll make the next one longer. Please review! =)