The next few weeks passed without incident. The new friends hung out randomly, but Hermione avoided Draco like the plague and Draco didn't do much to approach her again. They talked, but that was about it. Zabini was absolutely in love with the two ladies. He loved Hermione's sharp tongue and Ginny's endless energy. He looked at them as sisters. The summer was almost over and in five days, and they would all be packing their trunks and heading back to Hogwarts. They had all decided to go out to the club where they had all met for the evening. Draco was sitting in Hermione's living room next to Zabini waiting for the girls. Ginny and Hermione came down the stairs and stopped by the door. Draco let his eyes run the length of Hermione and felt that familiar tightness in his chest that he was trying to hide from these past few weeks. He was irritated with the fact that it just kept getting worse no matter how much he tried to avoid her.

They quietly filed out the door and made the short trek to the club.

It was almost one am and the four of them had been dancing the night away. They took turns dancing with each other throughout the night, although Hermione and Draco tried to keep distance between them when they were dancing. The boys excused themselves to grab a drink and Hermione turned to face Ginny.

"I have to pee! I'll be right back!" she yelled over the music.

"I'm going to go get a drink. You want one?"

"Yeah. Get me whatever you are having!" she said and turned to head towards the bathrooms.

The bathrooms were down a long semi-lit hallway at the back of the club. She practically did a happy dance to see there was no line as she made her way towards the door. Just as she was about to reach it, a hand wrapped around her waist and yanked her back into a solid chest.

"Draco?" Hermione asked looking over her shoulder to find a tall man with dark hair and a thing goatee around his mouth.

"Excuse me. Please let me go," Hermione said as she tried to yank herself out of the man's grasp.

"I've been watching you all night. I thought I'd never get you away from your two bodyguards." His voice was right in her ear and the feeling of his hot breath on her neck made her stomach flip.

"Let me go!" She yelled digging her nails into his hand.

The man abruptly shoved her through the bathroom door and locked it behind it. Hermione stumbled forward and caught herself on one of the sinks before flipping around to face the man. He stalked towards her and shoved her against the wall by the sink. Hermione felt tears build up in her eyes.

"Please stop," she whispered as his mouth laid slimy kisses along her shoulder.

His hand snaked down to her exposed thigh. She was wearing a bandage dress that was very short and tight. His hand ran up her thigh, pushing her dress up with it, exposing her dark blue thong underneath. Tears spilled from her eyes as she repeatedly asked him to stop and fight against him without success. He was much stronger than her. She let out a sob as his fingers pushed aside her underwear and she felt his finger slip into her. Nobody besides herself had ever touched her like this. She felt violated and her stomach churned.

"NO! HELP ME!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

She felt the smack before she even saw his hand raise. Her head jerked to the side as more tears poured down her face and the imprint of his hand still stung her cheek.

"Shut up and enjoy it!" the man growled.

His hand slid away from her and she almost sighed in relief when she heard the slight jingle of a belt buckle. Terror shot through her at the thought of this man stealing her virginity before she had even had the chance to offer it to anyone. She fought back but he slapped her again and she went limp as he lowered her to the dirty bathroom floor. She cried as he held her down with one hand and unzipped his pants with the other. Then he grabbed her underwear and ripped them off. Hermione screamed again as he jerked her dress up, exposing herself to him. She clamped her legs together and he chucked as he pulled himself out of his boxers.

"BLAISE! DRACO!"

Draco and Blaise had gotten a drink and were leaning up against the bar talking with Ginny about plans for the rest of the week. Draco glanced around and couldn't spot Hermione.

"Hey, what's taking Hermione so long?" he asked looking over at Ginny.

Ginny's brows wrinkled as she looked around the club for her best friend.

"I don't know. She should have been out by now. I'll go check on her. Hold this." She handed her drink to Draco and headed towards the bathroom. As she was coming down the hall she heard the most horrifying noise ever. Hermione's scream ricocheted off the walls and tore through Ginny.

"Hermione!" Ginny ran to the bathroom door and pushed, but it wouldn't budge. She didn't have her wand on her.

"BLAISE! DRACO!" Ginny's entire body shook as she tore back down the hall. She ran through the crowd to the bar where Blaise and Draco were standing. They both looked at her startled and sat there drinks down grabbing onto her shoulders.

"Ginny, what's wrong?" Draco asked leaning down to look into her eyes.

"Hermione… I think…something's wrong… she's screaming. I can't get in. The doors locked!"

Draco's stomached dropped and he glanced at Blaise before they tore through the crowd and down the hall. They heard her screams as soon as they hit the hallway. Draco's inside's clenched as she screamed his name. He pulled his wand from inside his jacket and pointed it at the door, hearing the lock click. When he shoved the door open his dinner almost came back up. Hermione was on the floor struggling against a large man as he positioned himself between her legs. Her panties were lying off to the side and she had tears streaking down her face. Him and Blaise flew at the guy. Blaise wrapped his arm around the guy's neck and held him back as Ginny ran to get more help.

Draco dropped to his knees next to Hermione who was sobbing to the point of hyperventilating.

"It's ok, Hermione. I'm right here. You're ok. He won't hurt you anymore." He reached down and pulled her dress down to hide her body as two security guards rushed into the bathroom. They quickly took the man from Blaise and dragged him out of the bathroom.

Blaise stood over Hermione and watched Draco brush her hair back from her face and whisper in her ear as she lay there limp and sobbing. The manager came in and Blaise took initiative with Ginny as they explained what they knew. They informed the police they would call in the morning for a statement, but they just wanted to get her home.

When Blaise gave him the all clear, Draco scooped Hermione up into his arms where she buried her head in his chest and gripped his jacket tightly. They all made their way out of the club and down the street. Ginny let them into the house and Draco didn't even ask permission as he carried her upstairs to her room. His heart was beating wildly in his chest. He sat her down on the edge of the bed and kneeled down in from of her. She was still breathing funny, but she looked up at him.

"God, Hermione, I am so sorry. We should never have let you go alone."

"I want to shower. I can still… feel him… on me." Her voice cracked trying to hold back more tears.

He nodded and let her into the bathroom, where he turned on the shower and got it warm before handing her a towel he found in the cabinet. He told her he'd be in her room waiting, and closed the door behind him. He collapsed on her bed, which smelled like freesia, just like her. His head was reeling. When he saw that guy over her and her tears, he practically saw red. All he could think was how many spells he could cast at this man. Then he remembered he was in a muggle club and held back.

The sound of her screaming his name was going to haunt him for the rest of his life. He would never let anything like this happen to her again. He wanted to protect her, and that scared him. He was a Slytherin and she was a Gryffindor. People wouldn't approve. Being around her these last few weeks had changed something in him. He loved being around her. She made him want to be a better person. He wasn't sure he wanted to give that up.

He glanced at his watch and noticed she had been in there for about twenty minutes. He walked over to the door and knocked.

"Hermione, are you ok?" He listened carefully, but he could only hear the sound of the water running.

He carefully pushed the door opened and glanced over at the glass shower stall. He could see her figure sitting on the ground. He walked over to the door and paused.

"Hermione, please answer me."

She let out a light sob and without even considering the consequences, he opened the door. She was curled up in a ball in the corner and was scrubbing her arms repeatedly. They were bright red from the repeated movement. Under normal circumstances he would have been slightly turned on by the picture of her in the shower, but this one just broke his heart. He stepped in and shut the water off before crouching down to her level.

"I can't…. get him off. I can feel… him." Her words came out choppy as she cried.

"Aw, babe. Come on." He gently grabbed her arms and pulled her up, making sure not to stare at her body.

They stepped out of the shower and he quickly grabbed the towel and wrapped it around her body. He led her back into her room and left her standing in the middle just long enough to go to her dresser and pull out a pair of cotton panties and a long t-shirt. He slid t-shirt on first and then let her towel drop before she took her panties and slid them on. He then led her over to her bed and pulled the blankets down. She climbed in and he pulled them up to her chin. As he turned to leave, her hand shot out and grabbed his hand.

"Please don't leave me." Her eyes were pleading and he nodded and kicked his shoes off and laid his jacket across the back of her chair before lifting the blankets and sliding in next to her. She gripped the front of his shirt and laid her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and hugged her warm body to him. Her hair was still wet and soaked through the pillow and his shirt, but he ignored it. His hand rand softly up and down her back and he whispered calming words to her until he heard her breathing even out and realized she had fallen asleep. He contemplated leaving, but thought against it before closing his own eyes and drifting off.

"NO! Get off! HELP ME!" Hermione's screams ripped through the house and tore Draco out of his sleep. Her arms were flailing around and she almost hit him in the face. He quickly leaned over her and gently held her hands to her chest to prevent injury.

"Hermione, wake up babe. It's Draco. Come on."

The bedroom door flew open to show Ginny and Blaise standing there. He shook his head lightly as he continued to whisper to her. Her eyes snapped open and met Draco's before she burst into tears again. He pulled her to him and rocked her as she cried. Ginny and Blaise backed out of the room. Blaise smiled lightly at Draco before shutting the door again. Once she calmed down he laid back down facing her.

"Sorry. Nightmare," she sighed.

"Don't apologize." His hand came out and brushed some hair away from her face. She looked up and met his gaze.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Saving me. Staying with me." Her hand came out and rested on his chest where his heart was.

"You don't have to thank me for that, Hermione. I almost killed him when I saw what he was doing."

"Yeah, but the new Draco doesn't kill people." His hand stopped it's movements as it rested on the side of her neck.

"You're… perfect." The words came out before he could stop them.

A small smile formed on her face and a weight was lifted off his shoulders. He wasn't sure he was going to get to see that for a while.

"Except for the blood."

He rolled over and grabbed his wand off her night stand, rolling back towards her. He took her hand off his chest and ran his wand along one of her finger tips lightly, whispering a spell. A small cut in her finger formed. He squeezed her fingertip lightly and a drop of blood pooled there. She watched him carefully as he did the same to his and held it up next to hers before looking back up into her eyes before speaking.

"See… we're the same."