Chapter 3:

Draco walked to the rim of the lake. He looked around at the students who were enjoying the last week of the school year. He had to admit that the beginning of the summer holidays was bittersweet. He would be done with this part of his schooling and would possibly be Head Boy next year, but he also had to go home. He knew most of the things that awaited him at his home and the arrival of his seventeenth birthday. He sighed to throw out those thoughts.

He still hadn't made any headway on the case of the temperamental muggle-born. This bothered him, it had been several days that she hadn't spoken to the trollish half of the Golden Trio, and when he made a decision, he stuck to it. He would have to find her and make up some lame excuse, like that McGonagall wanted to see her, to get her alone.

His feet were carrying him to his normal resting spot, grateful for the fact that Crabbe and Goyle had hung after Pansy after she announced that she had given up on Draco. He needed his alone time to reflect on everything going on in his life. Lately, it seemed as if he couldn't get enough time to think.

With his thoughts clouding his mind, he walked right up to the rock, very unaware that it was already inhabited, and sat down. A rustling noise caught his attention and he looked up to see Hermione briskly walking away from him. He jumped up, he wouldn't have too many more chances to talk to her, and in two strides, he had caught up. He grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Don't touch me, Malfoy!" though she didn't pull her arm away.

"What's up with you Granger?" he said while turning her to face him.

"What business is it of yours?" she shouted with tear-stained cheeks, this time she did jerk her arm out of his grasp. He just looked at her, she was a mess. Her hair was unkempt, she was pale with small, dark circles under her eyes, and she looked even thinner than usual.

"I've just noticed that you aren't always stuck up the Potter's ass, you're blubbing, and to put it plainly, you look worse than usual. What has happened to you?"

"Oh, don't try to play the sensitive guy! I know you don't give one shit more about me than you do that damned excuse for a Lord! You don't care about Mudbloods remember?" she yelled at him as she turned away again. He grabbed her arm once again, but as he turned her around, her fist made direct contact with him face.

He staggered back, stunned. He knew she was upset but didn't think she would punch him. He stood there gaping at her. She seemed to be shocked by what she had done too, and something crossed her face. She looked very fearful of him at the moment. He couldn't be angry with her. Though, if it had been anyone else he would be absolutely livid, like the one time Pansy had struck him- he had cursed her to a full body bind curse for an entire day, daring anyone to attend to her.

He took a step toward her, he was simply going to take her hand to bring her back to the rock. He raised his arm and she flinched away. Again, he was so shocked. He paused. When she looked back at him, she had a look of slight fear that she was trying to control. Quickly, before she could hit him again, he grabbed her. He pulled her into a tight embrace. He didn't know what was going through his head or hers, but he knew that she needed this.

At first, she didn't know what to do; it wasn't as if she normally hugged her enemies, or anyone for that matter, everyday. Her arms remained limp until she realized how good it felt to be held like this. She threw her arms around his waist. She tried as hard as she could to hold in her tears, but the warmth of his body reminded her of the things she longed for, the things she hadn't had for so long.

He felt her slender arms wrap around him, which he was glad for. Then he began to feel the moisture soaking through his shirt at his collarbone. He couldn't believe that all of his life he was taught to humiliate and downgrade people like the girl in his arms and he had never fully realized that they were truly people too. This small girl had her own troubles without him adding to them. He actually felt penitent for all of the nasty things that he had said to her, not that it would change anything between them.

He felt her breathing go back to regular, replacing the short breaths that came with the sobs. He glanced down at her, trying to see her face that was hidden behind her thick mass hair. He slowly and softly walked her backwards, back to the rock, her head still on his chest. He turned around, took her by her waist, and sat her up on the rock. He tried to look into her eyes to see if he could find any trace that she was feeling better, but she was still looking down.

Finally, she looked up at him a lot of confusion. He had insulted her, she had insulted him back, then she punched him, and he hugs her, letting her cry on his shoulder. What the heck? And another thing, why did he even care?! What's it to him if she's miserable, isn't that what his job usually was to do? Nothing about this made sense to her, but she was still grateful for it.

"Thank you." She said simply. She couldn't unearth any other words.

"Don't mention it." He replied, it was somewhat of a joke but she knew there was real meaning behind it. He sat down beside of her, neither of them speaking for some time. Then he asked, "So are you going to tell me what's going on?"

She sighed. She supposed that she owed it to him but she really didn't want to discuss her problems with him of all people. He looked up into his nearly grey eyes. "It's nothing. I'm fine." Looking away so as not to get caught up in the thoughts brought on by her dream.

He began to get frustrated again. "Hermione, you aren't fine. You just-" he stopped when she looked back up at him quickly. "What?"

"Nothing."

"At any rate, you aren't fine. You just broke down right here in front of me, the one person I know you wouldn't ever want to witness you so vulnerable." He accused.

"I know." She said slowly. "I just have a lot going on… I'd just rather not talk about it."

He sighed. "Ok, then what do you want to talk about?"

She assumed he would be mad and walk off, but he was simply full of surprises today. "Uhm…" she sighed. "I'm sorry about that earlier." She looked at his face and noticed a red splotch on his cheek. She shifted towards him and placed her hand on the side of his face. The place was very warm.

He wanted to pull out of her reach but her touch was very soothing. He looked down at her. He began to notice things about her that he never had. She had some lighter tints of honey blonde in her hair that stood out as the sun shone on it. He also had never noticed that she had this natural beauty about her; almost every girl he knew wore so much make up that they could supply a costume store for an entire year. Hermione didn't wear any cosmetics at all, nor did she need them. Even at her worst, fatigued and completely stressed out, she looked great- regardless of what he had told her earlier.

He lifted his hand to cover her's. His hand was so much bigger than hers, and the feel of her tiny hand under his felt so great. He had never really had contact with a girl who wasn't after him for his power and wealth. He slowly pulled her hand away, keeping it in his for a moment before releasing it.

"It's fine." He said. She stared into his face, confused for a second. She had completely lost track of what they were talking about, because the way he had been gazing at her totally dazed her.

"No," she said remembering. "I'm sorry. I'm just so stressed, and I guess I was just taking it out on you. I really shouldn't have."

"It's alright Hermione." He replied again. She blushed, she couldn't believe by just saying her name he had got that reaction out of her. "I can see you're under a lot of pressure. Believe me, I understand that."

"What's going on with you?" she asked.

"Nope, I asked you first. You'll have to tell me before I divulge any information." He smirked. A small smile played on her lips.

"Merlin, you're insufferable." She laughed. She had to admit to herself that when he was being civil, he was actually nice to be around, and it felt it good to laugh. "But, really, why is it that you are bothering to be nice to me?"

He scrutinized the lake, like he had the day the first really talked. "I don't know. You just looked like you could use someone to talk to. You weren't even talking to Potter and Weasley so I knew you had to be going through some things they wouldn't understand. I find that it's better to talk to people with an IQ greater than a troll's to get you back on the right track." he joked.

"Yeah, I guess that would be a good idea. You know where I could find someone like that?" she smirked for a change.

"I think that Goyle is somewhere around here." They both laughed. She looked into his eyes and knew that he would listen to what she had to say, not just hear it, but truly listen.

She sighed. "It's just that… well, do you know what a divorce is?"

He nodded. "Hermione, our worlds aren't that different. Albeit, divorces in the wizarding world are very unheard of due to the magical bond. But anyway… go on." He rested his head on one fist, staring intently into her eyes, as if to soak up everything she was about to say.

"Ok, my parents split the summer before fifth year. I mean, I should have seen it coming, but they hid it from me. When I was actually home, they tried to act normal but they weren't. My mother was always very accident prone, or so she would say. I tried to pretend things weren't happening like I knew they were." She paused, trying to hold back the tears that wanted to slip out.

"There were so many things going on that year. I wanted to be with my friends, because of the death of Cedric and the return of Voldemort, but my father," she spat the word. "didn't want me leaving again so soon after I returned home. He was already, well shall we say, inebriated. And being so, he wasn't so… gentle in telling me no." she looked down at his hands at seeing his surprised reaction. "That's what finally made my mother divorce him."

She was quiet for a minute. "Hermione, I'm so-"

"Please, don't say you're sorry. I mean, I appreciate it, but I'd rather have someone listen to me than feel bad for me." she peered up into his face that he was struggling to control. "With so many horrendous things happening," she started again, "I didn't want to trouble my friends further with my broken home, so I didn't tell anyone about what had transpired. Nevertheless, the split is why I only stayed at my home for a mere week last summer. Mum, desperate for attention and love, had moved a new man into our house. He seemed decent at first. He was polite until several days into my stay. He walked into my room one night and…" she burst out into tears again, latching onto a mortified Draco. "He tried to rape me. He told me that if I didn't hush that he would kill me and my mother. Thankfully, my wand was on my bedside table and I sent the first spell I thought of at his head. He was unconscious when mum walked in." she sniffed.

Draco smoothed down her soft hair in a comforting way. "I can't believe all this has happened to you Hermione. You always just seem so…"

"How I wish that was the end of it." She pulled away and looked up at him, eyes still brimming with hot, stinging tears. He pulled her back closer and slightly nodded to tell her to go on with her story. "When she found him in my room, she accused me of luring him there. She tried to say that I was framing him so that she would get rid of him. She slapped me and told me to get out of her house. Later, I found out that she was on LSD and some other drugs. And even though my life had went to Hell, I knew that my friends here all had troubles of their own that were far more important."

"So Potter nor any of the Weasleys know about any of this?" he pulled her closer as she shook her head 'no'. He sighed. And I thought that the Dark Lord had a bad home life.