I woke up the next morning and knew that it was going to be very hard to get out of bed and make it through the day. My whole body was screaming in pain but I refused to let anyone see it. I struggled out of bed and into my uniform. The morning seemed to drag on forever and every time Draco touched me in the slightest way, even if it was affectionately, I would flinch ever so slightly. If he noticed he never said.

"Are you in pain?" Blaise asked as we were eating our lunch.

"No," I replied.

"What would she be in pain from Zabini?" Draco asked wrapping an arm around my waist. The weight of his arm was enough to make me want to scream but I held it in and kept a smile frozen on my face.

"I'm fine," I said. "I feel perfectly all right. No need to worry about me Blaise." But I did want him to worry about me. If someone, anyone, worried about me or noticed that I was not my normal self then I would feel loved or like I was worth something. As it was no one noticed and the two people who had were gone because I had chased them away. Draco did not care about me, he hardly even pretended anymore. He openly flirted with Pansy in the common room, often going off with her, away from everyone else. He only pretended to care when we were around the other Houses. We could not seem like anything but the "perfect couple".

We finished our lunches and walked down to the Potions classroom. Mitch and Becky walked past us and I tried not to look at them. It would have worked too except Mitch bumped into my arm and I sucked in my breath as pain ran through me. Mitch turned to me.

"Schyler are you…?" his voice trailed off. I looked up at the concerned look on his face and saw that he was staring at my arm. I looked down and saw that the sleeve of my shirt had gone up a little to reveal purplish bruises all over my arm. I yanked my sleeve down and did not look at him.

"Schyler," he said. I stared at the table, concentrated on it so that I did not feel the pain in my arm or the pain in my heart from doing this to my friends. Mitch walked away and joined Becky at their table.

"What did he want?" Draco asked.

"Nothing," I muttered. "He didn't say anything." Draco noticed me playing nervously with the sleeve of my shirt. He looked over that Becky and Mitch just as Mitch leaned over to Becky and whispered something to her. Becky looked over at us and her eyes narrowed.

"What did he see?" Draco asked.

"He just…it was…nothing Draco," I stammered weakly. "He didn't see anything." Draco did not mention it again. It was not until our break that I realized that he knew I was lying. He led me to a deserted room.

"What did he see?" he asked again.

"Bruises," I answered no longer having the strength to lie to him. "On my right arm. But for all he knows I could have gotten them from falling…"

"Oh he knows!" Draco hissed cutting me off. "He knows and he told Rivers and now she knows too! Do you see what you've done!?" I did not see how this was my fault. After all he was the one who beat me up. But I was too afraid of him to say so.

"I'm….I'm sorry Draco," I whispered. "I didn't mean for him to see…." Draco smacked me and I fell to the floor. I did not make any noise.

"I need to teach you a lesson again I see," he said as he pulled out his wand.

"Draco please no…I didn't mean to….I'll be good…I'll do anything you say….please…." I was sobbing as I begged him not to hurt me. Draco smirked and pointed his wand at me.

"Crucio!" he snarled. I felt as if my whole body was being ripped apart. The pain was excruciating. I screamed and screamed. I begged him to stop and still he kept the curse on me. Then he used the Silencing Charm on me and laughed as I screamed silently.

Finally, he released me from both spells. I lay very still on the floor trying to breathe as shallowly as I could.

"Worthless piece of shit," he sneered. "You are nothing to me. I could never love something as worthless as you." Then he walked out, shutting the door behind him. I laid there for a long time before finally slipping off into unconsciousness. I believed him with all my heart. I was worthless and I was nothing. He did not truly love me so therefore no one could ever love me. He did not care about me therefore no one could. I was nothing. I deserved what he did to me. I did not deserve happiness.