(Hermione)

Often in films or books when a character is in mortal peril it is said that the grains of sand in the great hourglass of time slow down to a trickle and that because of this, the main character of the book or film sees everything in horrendously clear slow motion. Hermione had always scoffed and rolled her eyes when she had read the phrase in a book; she thought it to be an utter cliché; it was something, in her opinion, that muggle film makers and authors used for dramatic effect. A phenomenon that was most certainly based in fantasy, not in fact.

It was ironic, then, that for no more than thirty or forty seconds after Harry had roared the spell 'for enemies' that he had found in the Half-Blood Prince's Potions book, everything that Hermione Granger bore witness to took three or even four times longer to take place than it would have at any other time of year. She watched on, petrified and powerless to do anything but gawp and stare as several silver, crackling beams of light, which took the form of glittering swords, burst forth from Harry's wand and sliced through the air. They sped towards Harry's target and the object of his rage: one Draco Malfoy.

Hermione clenched her eyes shut, screamed gutturally and fisted her hands, maddened by her lack of control over the situation. Eyes flickering wildly she twisted her head to and fro from Harry and Draco; the former's features were contorted into an expression which conveyed his feelings of hate, anguish and chagrin. He grunted and his wand arm fell downwards, following through the spell he had just cast, turned his head in the direction of a deep, slow, nasally shout – 'Potter! No!' – and roared as his wand was knocked out of his sweaty grasp by a lunging Professor Snape. The broad man – who was, tragically, too late to send Harry's spell off on a different tangent – knocked the younger male to the floor to prevent him doing any further damage, slapped him and pinned him down by the shoulders. He spat out furious curses and threats at the maddened boy as he lashed out and writhed beneath him.

Draco, meanwhile, had neglected to cast a counter curse and was staggering backwards, bewildered, in an attempt to escape the light-swords that hurtled ever closer to him. He whimpered, sobbed and waved his arms about in a morbidly comical fashion to keep himself from toppling over; his leg muscles had chosen moments before to turn to the consistency of strawberry jelly and ergo, his shaky backward steps were not really going to take him anywhere but the floor.

It was at that moment in time that Hermione's taste of slow motion vision came to an end; coincidently it was the very same moment that she abandoned all rational thought and – forgetting she was a witch with the powers to deflect the curse without endangering herself – sprinted forwards and dived into Draco's flailing arms, her objective not to give him a loving hug, but to knock him to the floor and out of the path of the spectral daggers that were milliseconds away from cutting the blonde boy to ribbons. A fleeting logical thought did waltz into her scrambled mind and it told her that what she was doing was madness; she would surely absorb the brunt of the curse herself; she had made the decision to save Draco far too late to actually save him by pushing him to the great hall's stone tiles. She ignored it and continued to steam towards him.

Out of the buzzing chorus of frightened voices Hermione's ears made out the words of Professor McGonagall. 'Oh, goodness! Miss Granger, what are you doing? For Merlin's sake girl, get back here, you'll be killed!' Hermione did not heed the woman's advice and carried on, determined to get Draco out of harm's way.

That one logical thought and Professor McGonagall were half right – Hermione did succeed in knocking Draco to the floor, however, regrettably, she did indeed absorb the brunt of the curse and the light-swords passed into and through her falling body, leaving several deep gashes in their wake, although they were not lethal as McGonagall had predicted them to be. Hermione's eyes widened and her breath hitched in her throat as acute, searing pain washed over her. The pain became more and more heightened and Hermione wailed like a wounded animal and became rigid; in the commotion Malfoy failed to notice that she was injured. He lay beneath her, somewhat concussed, shaking, panting and not really sure why he and the Gryffindor were embracing on the floor of the great hall, still completely unaware that his saviour was bleeding profusely from long wounds marring her neck, chest, back and stomach.

'Bloody Merlin, Granger! Get off me!' Draco stuttered, unnerved by the close contact, and attempted to shift her dead weight with weak arms. 'Granger, I can understand if you like being in this rather compromising position, but I must insist that you unhand me this instant!' Becoming somewhat peeved, Draco shifted his gaze to her to see why exactly she had not moved and brought a hand to her shoulder to try and shake her off him. 'Granger!?' Draco hissed, and then removed his cold paw from her shoulder. He reeled when it came back bloodied and he gulped. His Adam's apple bobbed in his throat.

'Oh, shit.' Draco muttered. 'Oh, shit.' He repeated, a little louder this time. 'Professor Snape?'

'Yes?' Came the answering voice of Snape, slightly strained and breathy – Harry continued to struggle, as if he were possessed, beneath him.

'Professor,' the Slytherin boy replied in a tone that did not befit the graveness of the situation. 'Professor, would you fetch a healer? It's the Mud- it's Granger, Potter's' – he spat out Harry's name as if it were something filthy – 'curse has wounded her.'

*

(Draco)

'Master Malfoy? I'm going to have to insist that you leave. You're causing Miss Granger's other guests to become somewhat…' Poppy Pomfrey inclined her head towards Harry, who was at present being restrained at the entrance to the hospital wing by Professor Dumbledore. The elderly man had magicked a straitjacket onto Harry and stood watching him with a displeased and somewhat surprised expression on his aged face as the boy writhed and jerked about in an attempt to remove himself from the restricting garment. 'Well, you can see, I assume, why it would be wise for you to leave, Master Malfoy. If you wish, you may return later.'

'Of course, Madame Pomfrey. I will return at the end of the day.' Draco replied, spared Hermione – who was unconscious and swathed in bandages – an apologetic glance and nodded curtly to Ron and Ginny, who were sat on the opposite side of Hermione's bed. They were livid at his presence in Hermione's party of visitors but after several minutes of heated argument (Ron's main reason that Draco should leave was, of course, that he had attempted to rape Hermione) had accepted that he was not going to budge from his spot at her side, and watched him hold his head in his hands and sob quietly with a curious sort of interest; neither of them had seen Draco display any sort emotion before, and Ron had said in a past Malfoy-bashing session that he was, in less eloquent words, 'A devious rat unable to shed a single tear over anything.' Replace devious and rat with the curse words of your choice.

Draco strode away from the solemn little party, boots clacking quietly as he went, and past Dumbledore. He halted at Harry's bubble prison and stared at him distastefully, his hands held behind his back. Upon noticing Draco's closeness Harry had halted his wild twisting and fixed his fiery gaze on Draco. For a moment he was completely still and quiet, but when Draco raised a blonde eye brow in a sort of challenge he opened his mouth and screamed hoarse, almost silent – his voice had begun to give out from all the shouting he had done in the great hall and on the way up to the hospital wing – torrents of abuse – 'I'll fucking kill you for what you've done to Hermione, Malfoy, you greasy snake!' etcetera. If not for the protective bubble Dumbledore had cast to keep all in the ward safe from Harry, he would surely have done all in his power to bring Draco to some harm.

Draco lowered his gaze to the floor and coughed quietly, trying his best to ignore Harry's ravings whilst he measured his words. He then made eye contact with Harry and gave the maddened Gryffindor that rarest of gifts: an apology.

'Potter,' Draco began, trying to keep his voice as level as he could. 'I've had some time to think, and, well, I'd like to apologise for my… uncouth actions over the past few days. I can't say that I particularly regret doing any of it, but it is evident that I've upset you. So… I'm sorry, I suppose.' Harry had been stunned into silence by the words that had left Draco's lips. His brows were furrowed. Draco watched him blankly, evidently waiting for him to say something, but all the other boy did was stare at him with deep intensity.

'Well, I'll be going now.' Draco murmured, unsettled by Harry's profound gaze. He turned to exit and was greeted by a beaming Albus Dumbledore whose blue eyes were twinkling with mirth.

'What do you want, old man?' Draco spat, getting defensive.

'Nothing, nothing.' Dumbledore said softly and knowingly.

Draco shot him a withering glance and stalked out of the ward.

*

(Hermione)

Mere seconds after Hermione had regained consciousness Madame Pomfrey had bustled over to her holding a tray laden with food and a dose of pain relief tonic. The latter the matron had forced down Hermione's throat and the former she had left on her bedside table and instructed her to eat whatever took her fancy. No more than half an hour later, when Hermione had consumed a bowl of droopy salad, a plateful of steamed vegetables and was now picking her way through a sorry looking portion of cherry pie, Draco skulked into the ward looking rather dejected and as sorry for himself as Hermione's dessert. She was so engrossed in the pudding that she did not notice him until he was at the foot of her bed, greeting her sullenly in his silky drawl.

'Good evening, Granger.'

Hermione jumped upon hearing the silky voice and scrambled backwards as far as the bed would allow; hitting her head on the metal headboard of the bed was her reward for desiring to put space between Draco and herself. Hermione's bowl of pie fell from her lap as she scrabbled and it toppled onto the floor where the china shattered and the contents of the bowl skidded across the tiles, lining them with pastry and slimy pink conserve.

'Oh, bugger,' Hermione cursed. 'That pie wasn't half bad.'

Draco looked down at her with mild interest as she tutted and fussed over the mess she had made and drew her wand, muttering 'Scourgify!' and then 'Reparo!' as she went. The fragments of the china bowl sprung up from the floor and back together and the pastry and pie filling were swept from the tiles and into nothingness. The repaired bowl then spun back up onto the tray on Hermione's bedside table.

When she was satisfied that the mess had been cleared up Hermione looked up at Draco hesitantly. Hermione's antics had lifted his mood somewhat and a small smile played across his thin lips. She scowled at his joviality.

'What have you come here for, Malfoy? To gloat, I assume?' Hermione looked up at him, challenging him to answer her question, which she intended to be rhetorical.

'Oh, but of course I have.' Draco rolled his eyes. 'In all seriousness, Gra- Hermione, I've done some thinking, and well, I've come here to ask for your forgiveness for what I've done to you.'

Hermione furrowed her brows and motioned for him to sit down in the chair Ginny had occupied earlier. 'Sit.' She murmured, somewhat humbled by his request.

Draco looked at the solitary carrot Hermione had neglected to eat, far too embarrassed to look her in the eyes. For a moment or two Hermione studied him. 'May I ask what has brought this on, Malfoy? You've never been one to apologise for anything.'

The only indication that Draco was paying any attention to what Hermione was saying was the crease in his brows and the pursing of his lips; he continued to examine the carrot with disturbing fervour. 'Hermione… This morning… You… You put yourself at risk to save me. You saved me, after all that I've done to you…' He whispered, and sought out her gaze.

Still as stiff as a steel rod, Hermione spoke. 'I did not realize we were on first name terms, Draco.' She looked at her hands in her lap, unwilling to make eye contact.

Draco turned to her, squirming. Her cold rebuff had left him shaken and apparently on the verge of tears. 'Please, Hermione… Forgive me; I've been acting like a prize cunt towards you. I've hurt you, and for that I am… Eternally sorry.' He struggled to get the last two words out.

Hermione snapped. 'No, Malfoy. I cannot forgive you. You have…' She choked on her words and began to cry. Quivering, she carried on in a weak voice. 'You have… No idea what you've done to me. No idea.'

In an uncharacteristic, comforting gesture, Draco reached out and took a hold of one of Hermione's hands. She tried to yank it away as if burned. Draco looked at her, hurt, and she relaxed into his grip.

'Hermione, I know I can't understand what you're going through…'

She cut him off. 'Of course you can't. You're a fool. A sadistic fool.'

Draco wailed bitterly. 'No, you don't understand… I'm no sadist...' Draco released her hand from his grip and drew away from her a little. He looked down at the floor and began to cry. 'N-nobody understands… What I've gone through thi- this year. What I've done! Oh sweet Merlin, what I've done. What he's made me do, Hermione… What he's- he's done to me… He's maddened me… I h-hear voices… They make me do evil things, Hermione… They…' Draco looked up at Hermione, stricken. Her eyes were teary and full of empathy. Again he took her hand.

'Hermione, they made me hurt y-you.' She gasped and pulled away from him. The panic and desperation in Draco's voice rose. 'Please, you h-have to understand! What I did to you I did not do of my own accord! Please… Hermione, let me make- let me make it up to you. L-let me p-put things right.'

Hermione looked him in the eyes and for a moment seemed to consider his proposal, but then heaved a weary sigh and looked away. She removed his hand from hers. 'I'm sorry, Draco, but… I can't do that. I can't forgive you.'

Draco got up from his chair and fell to his knees, crying uncontrollably into her duvet which he held clumps of between his fingers. Hermione pushed him off of her and he fell backwards, hitting his head on the chair he had occupied minutes ago. He sat on the floor, head resting on the seat of the chair, still crying. His lips curled downwards and his eyes were scrunched shut.

'Draco, please leave.' Hermione whispered.

--

First of all, let me apologise for my horrendously slow update. ;-; I was too ill to write, then I had writers block (Please, never stay up until 5:30am trying to write FanFiction ._.), then I finally had most of the chapter done and my Mother came down and sent me to bed. Argh. Also, I'm sorry for the weird update time, I'm not actually supposed to be on the PC, and well, Mum is out of the house... Only time I'm gonna be able to upload today... I promise I'll update quicker in the future! Anyway, I digress, on to the chapter summary.

So. Hermione took a bullet (Well, sword(s)?) for Draco... Harry really has gone crazy... Draco let himself cry in front of the Weasleys (Uh-oh!)... On top of that he's got all apologetic and simpering... Some truths have come to light... Hermione's being, well, Hermione (See grudges against Ron... I think there's at least one in each of the original books??)...

Sorry if you thought Draco was a little OOC in that chapter, but meh, had to be done... He's gotta have a weak side. ;-;

Poor Draco, huh? Oh dear. :/ What do you all think of Hermione's reaction to him? Justified or perhaps a little cruel? What do you think is gonna happen next? Tell me in a review!!

Please review if you enjoyed the chapter. Or, well, even if you didn't... I think a chapter dedication will be in order for the 310th reviewer (Odd milestone, I know, but, eh... Anything to get reviews :D) Thank you so much to the 26 people who reviewed the last chapter! That was the second highest number of reviews I've received for a chapter, I think, and the lowest number of people have read that one! 1/10 of you left a review! :D Keep up the good work!

Mentions, as is usual, for those who reviewed the last chapter:

.ebonite (I think you're new? Welcome to the fold! :3), Hope22, speak200, F4LL3N-1NT0-0BL1V10N, .xXx, SnowCharms, Doni, x3BrookeElizabeth, Yew Wand (He's proud?! -swells with pride-), hemery, dancereadwritesing96, starlight-x-A-x, voldyismyfather, Queen of Lunacy, Jamie, BellaMarieSwan, PrivateNites, Evans17, BabyDark, rosebud23, LukeyLover, DragonGirl323, MissStud, AnnaOtaku, CyberDog101 and StandUnderMyUmbrella. Too many reviews to copypaste! -crumples-

Will update ASAP, hope you're all keeping well c:

Laura

P.S. Oh, and, urr, did anyone else notice that there are now only 5000 HP FanFics instead of 411,000???? o.o -doubletake-

P.P.S I was in book crossovers... Never mind. ;-;