Disclaimer: In case you have been living in a cave on mars with your fingers in your ears for the last ten years or so; JK Rowling owns Harry Potter and all terms and characters associated with the fandom. I only own the story, some characterisations and an occasional OC, I try to limit them as much as possible. Song lyrics which may crop up now and then will be attributed as appropriate.

WARNING: This Chapter contains references to sexual acts, if you are not comfortable with such things, it is highly recommended that you do not read.

Chapter 11 - Take it Easy (Love Nothing) Part 2

"Now I do as I please and lie through my teeth

Someone might get hurt, but it won't be me

I should probably feel cheap but I just feel free...

and a little bit empty

No, it isn't so hard to get close to me

There will be no arguments

We will always agree

And I'll try and be kind when I ask you to leave

We'll both take it easy

But if you stay too long inside my memory,

I will trap you in a song tied to a melody

and I will keep you there so you can't bother me..."

Bright eyes

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Draco stood in the doorway of Hermione's room, looking inside it, she peered at him, wondering what the reason was for the sudden intrusion, especially at the late hour. In a small slightly scared voice she spoke out, choosing her words carefully, just because she hadn't received a particularly brutal beating yet when either Blaise or Draco had been drunk, didn't mean they weren't going to eventually. "Did you want something?" Worse came to worse, she could hit him over the head with something heavy and take her chances as a runaway.

Placing his hand on the doorframe to steady himself, being fairly drunk at that point in the evening, he coughed loudly. Why he had ended up at Granger's door, he wasn't entirely sure at that point, although he had a fair feeling that it was something to do with the fact that Blaise wasn't there for him to talk to and he was in the mood for drunken reminiscing. "Granger, what are you doing?"

"Erm, sleeping?"

"Bugger, I thought you were awake." He turned around, leaving the room and going down the corridor, leaving Hermione fairly confused, although she was certain now he was very drunk. She slid out of bed, crossing the room to close her door when she heard a loud tumble, peering her head around the door, she could see a lone foot twitching from around the corner. Guessing he had fallen down the stairs, she debated whether or not to leave him there, finally, cursing under her breathe, she resolved it would be much worse for her all round if she left him there and rather than rouse the house elf to levitate him up the stairs, she decided he could make do with the living room settee and be happy with it.

She left her doorway and moved down the corridor, seeing that Draco was laying at the foot of the stair, amazingly, his bottle of fire whiskey still in one hand, he seemed to be asleep rather than unconscious, telling her he could have only fallen a down a few of the steps, probably tripping over his own feet. She sighed to herself, bending down she hooked his arm around her shoulders and with some difficulty, got him to his feet.

Draco's limp body was heavy with it's dead weight, she wasn't quite sure how long she could keep him aloft, but as she dragged him into the living room, she hoped she could keep him up as far as the settee. Hermione cursed the name of Malfoy as she finally managed to drag him as far as she planned, dropping him from her grip and allowing him to fall onto the sofa, waking him up. Hermione looked down at his open eyes and he looked back up into hers, seeing only the brown eyes and nothing else, he lifted his hand up and looped it round her neck, pulling her down to him and pressing his lips against hers.

Hermione moved her arm and pressed her hand against his chest, pushing him away. "No Draco, not again." She moved away from him, wanting to be out of his reach.

"Come on Granger, it's just sex. No one will ever find out." He sat up, looking around for the fire whiskey bottle that had been in his hand.

"I said no. Last time you freaked out when you woke up in the morning." She turned starting to move out of the door….

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Four months ago…

Draco cracked his eyes open, his head was pounding like a small house elf was inside it, hitting his brain with a hammer. His tongue felt thick and fuzzy, this was an all too familiar feeling, a very severe hangover. His left arm felt dead and numb, like he'd been sleeping on it all night, turning his head, his mouth dropped open in shock and the memories of the previous night suddenly had never seemed so wanted, but completely absent.

Hermione Granger, laid out on his arm, naked and sleeping appeared to be in his bed. Blinking his eyes, looking round the room, he realised they were not in his bed, but hers, the dingy décor and lack of furnishings told him that much later than it should have. Trying to pull his arm free from under her body, he wondered just how he had ended up in such a situation when she turned over in her sleep, her head trying to nestle against his chest, it became too much. "Granger!"

Her eyes opened, looking up at him, realising the tugging beneath her was he, trying to free his arm, she lifted her body up, allowing him to free it. He quickly slid out of the bed, becoming aware of his nakedness, he looked around the floor, finding his boxer shorts discarded by the bed. Hermione sat up, pulling the bed sheet around her body, covering herself. "How do you feel?"

"Fucking freaked out!" In dismay, he tried to located his trousers, unable to see them anywhere in the room. "What the fuck did we do Granger? What the fuck happened?" He slid his hands up into his hair, clearly distressed, while she slid off the bed, picking up a pair of trousers and handing them to him, keeping her bed sheet closely wrapped round herself.

"You came in here last night, drunk and climbed into my bed. Then you told me to have sex with you. Empty, guilt free, sex."

"You should have told me to fuck off!" He grabbed her by the shoulders, more panicked about the prospect of getting caught now, than the fact he had apparently had sex with his muggleborn servant.

"I tried that, you told me that I should shut up and do as I was told."

"Oh fuck! Oh fucking hell!"

"Don't worry, Blaise went to Tracey's late last night, he got owled, although I doubt you can remember that happening."

"No one can know about this Granger, it never gets spoken of again!"

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"Granger."

She turned around, looking at him squarely in the eyes. "What?"

"You know I could order you, it'd be much better if you just came here."

She sighed to herself, since she had been living as a slave, no family, no friends, Harry dead as well as Ron, the pain of which still felt as fresh as the welt on her cheek when she thought about him, she had felt so empty, like pieces of her were scattered about to the winds, some of them out of her reach forever. When she had slept with him the last time, she had felt something other than pain and longing, they were blotted out by the angry emotions that had consumed her when she had allowed him to enter her.

She didn't want to feel close to him, she hated him, he was the one who was keeping her there, forcing her everyday to do things for him, even if the things came in the form as a request, with a smile, she knew there was never an option to say no. Even now, he was telling her to sleep with him again, even though the last time he had hated himself in the morning for it. He had been barely able to look her in the face for weeks afterwards and words had hardly been exchanged, he had often opted instead to allow the house elf to follow him around the whole day.

She should have felt cheap and used, but instead she had felt a little free when she had been lying beneath him. It felt like she had gained a little control of her life, even if it was only in the smallest way. She could have laid still beneath his sweating body, remaining as still as a stone, but she hadn't, if she had to do it, she told herself that she might as well enjoy it and had dug her nails into his shoulder blades, tugged on the hair at the nape of his neck, lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist, pulling him further in, urging him to push harder and deeper inside her.

Truth be told, she had enjoyed it, even if it was empty sex with a man she hated, the freedom of her previous life, given her back a little of the freedom that she had lost.

She raised her eyebrow and looked at him, holding out his hand to her, she knew he was drunk, she knew that in the morning he would scream and shout at her that she should not have allowed it to happen, that she should have put up more of a fight, but having the knowledge gave her a little power over him, so she consigned herself.

Starting to unbutton her blouse, she started walking towards him. "Alright Malfoy, but this time, I'm going on top."

Draco smirked. "Only if you insist Granger."

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Authors Notes:

UPDATE: After reading all your reviews and speaking to my beta, I am not re-writing the chapter, because most of you liked it. Chapter 12 had actually been written by the time I spoke to my beta, but I changed the ending of the chapter. Actually, I changed it to something I'm not sure she'd like but I kinda felt it was needed. I have left the original authors notes in tact below, just in case any of the 96 people who read the chapter but didn't leave a review have a gripe with the way the story is going.

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OK my dear readers, here's the deal, I don't do this very often and I am unlikely to do it again, but, I am not too sure how this chapter turned out. I'm not sure I was completely true to the characters. So I am asking for your help.

Whether you always leave me a review or you don't review but read each chapter, I would like to here from all who read this chapter on this occasion. Even if you just put; yay or nay…

Did you think I was honestly true to the characters or do you think I fooked it? If the latter seems to be the common response then I will rewrite this chapter. However if you all like the way it turned out and don't think I messed it up, then I pretty much have the next chapter plotted out in my head.

I'd much rather do a decent job of the whole fic and have every chapter remain true to the characters than have an average fic with occasional chapters where the characters seem to change personalities. I'm too close to the project myself to have a completely unbiased opinion and my ultimate beta is currently away (although due back today, I can't wait till whatever time in the morning I get a phone call to upload the chapter, I'd rather just upload it now and get everyones opinion.)

So, yay or nay is the question, I really need all of your answers. If 72 people read it (current standing stat on last chapter) and only 5 people leave a review (current standing number of reviews on the last chapter) and those 5 people hated it while the others liked it or vice versa, I'd really hate to mess up this fic. So this is my plea to you guys to please, please, please tell me what you think.