The next morning, Hermione came out of her room to see Draco sitting on one of the couches surrounding the fire, reading a book. She was in her uniform, her hair was hanging down around her shoulders, and her eyes were slightly swollen from crying half the night. Draco looked up when she came out and quickly set his book down.

"Good morning," he called out to her.

She glanced up at him and gave a curt nod before turning towards the portrait hole.

"Hermione…"

She stopped and turned to face him. He could see the redness rimming her eyes and the slight puffiness of her eyes. He knew she had cried for quite a while.

"I know that you are mad at me, but we are Head Boy and Head Girl, so I thought we could meet up today and talk about rotations."

"That's fine."

She turned and walked out the hole without another word. Draco sighed and collapsed back on the couch.

The first day of classes was always Hermione's favorite. She loved opening her new books, which she had already read numerous times over the summer, and hearing the teachers explain what they would be teaching them that year. This year, though, she wasn't her usual spunky self. She sat quietly at her desk throughout classes. She had Harry and Ron in most of her classes, except for Ancient Ruins. It was her last class of the day and she ended up having it with Draco, Blaise, and a few other Slytherins that she was not fond of. Hermione met up with Draco during their free period during the day and avoided all personal questions, while rushing through getting a schedule made up for the prefects that night. Draco had tried everything to get her to talk to him, but it did not work.

Hermione had patrol that night with a sixth year Slytherin boy that she did not know. She waited fifteen minutes after patrol was to start and he had not shown, so she took off on her own. She started at the top floor and worked her way down. Hermione caught a couple fifth years making out on the fifth floor and deducted points before sending them off to bed. As she made her way into the dungeons she heard a noise like someone crying up ahead. She rounded a corner just past the Slytherin dungeons when she saw a girl sitting with her head in her hands. She approached slowly.

"Are you alright?" Hermione called out lightly.

The girl seemed to cry harder and Hermione approached and crouched down in front of her, resting her wand on the bench the girl was sitting on.

"What's wrong? Are you injured?" she tried again.

"No, but you are."

Hermione looked confused when an arm wrapped around her startling her and causing her to drop her wand. She was yanked bank with an arm around her neck and a wand pressed against her rib cage. She felt panic rise in her chest.

"I told you to watch your back mudblood."

"Th… Theo, please don't do this." She knew she was begging, but she felt the dark edges of panic creeping into her vision.

The girl in front of her lifted her head with an evil sneer on her face. It was Astoria Greengrass. Fear gripped Hermione.

"Is the little mudblood scared?" Theo sneered in her ear. She shivered at the feeling of his sticky breath on her neck.

"You will get expelled for this. I'm the Head Girl." Hermione tried to steel her nerves without much luck.

"Only if I get caught! Now, I must say Granger, you grew up over the summer. You have a nice hot little body here!"

Theo's wand hand reached up and cupped her breast through her robes. She squeezed her eyes shut as a tear came out.

"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.

"My father was a firm believer that mudbloods were only good for one thing. A good shag!" Theo pushed some of her hair out of his way and ran his slimy tongue down the side of her face.

She couldn't help the sob that escaped her and her legs gave out. Theo let go of her and let her collapse to the ground.

"That's right. Get down on your knees where you belong. It will be far easier for me to do this if you are down there anyway."

Hermione heard a familiar jingle and looked up to see him unbuckling his pants. Panic seared through her and she swung a leg out and kicked him in his knee, causing his legs to buckle and him to go down.

"Bitch!" Theo yelped as Astoria screeched and took off down the hall.

Hermione scrambled up while Theo was looking along the dark corridor for his wand and she limped as quickly as she could down the hallway. Her knee hurt from where she had landed on the stone floor.

"You can't outrun me, Granger."

Hermione looked back over her shoulder as she ran to see his shadow coming around the corner. As she turned she slammed into a wall of chest and another arm wrapped around her. A blood curdling scream ripped out of her.

"Hermione? What's wrong?" She looked up into Blaise's dark brown eyes and burst into tears.

"Oh, Granger!" Theo called behind them.

Blaise looked down at her again and realization settled on his features as he pulled Hermione behind him and raised his wand as Theo came around the corner.

"Oh Blaise, you caught the little vixen. Thanks mate."

"What the bloody hell do you think you are doing?"

Theo stopped and raised an eyebrow at Blaise.

"Well, I was about to get a good shag in before the little bitch kicked me. I suppose I can share though."

"You are lucky I don't hex your balls off. Are you stupid? She's the Head Girl!" Blaise yelled causing Theo's eyebrows to furrow together in confusion.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you fancied the girl the way you are sticking up for her right now."

"She's my friend, Theo. One that has been through more than you can imagine and you putting your hands on her without permission is called rape, not shagging."

"Since when do you care about filthy mudbloods?"

"If you forgot, Theo, that way of thinking almost got us all killed."

"You're serious?" Theo exclaimed incredulously.

"Yes. Now go back to the common room. I'll deal with you later."

Theo gaped at him before shaking his head and walking around them back towards the common room. Blaise pulled Hermione in front of him and hugged her.

"Merlin, Hermione. Are you alright?"

She gripped onto his robes as the reality of everything that had just happened and she felt her chest constrict.

"Blaise, are you coming back to the… whoa. What's going on?" Pansy Parkinson came walking down the hall towards where they stood.

"Pansy, I need you to help me."

Pansy eyed Hermione who was starring straight at Blaise's chest with her face frozen in fear.

"What's going on, Blaise?"

"We need to get her back to the Head dorm room. Draco will know what to do."

"Draco? Our Draco? Will know what to do with her?"

"I can't explain it all now, but he's the only one that will be able to calm her down from this."

"I've seen the way he stared at her today. I knew something was up. Ok, let's go."

Blaise stooped down and scooped Hermione up into his arms while Pansy picked up her wand and they walked up to the first floor where the portrait of Dumbledore was hanging.

"Oh dear," he exclaimed before swinging open without another word.

Blaise stepped through and could see Draco sitting with his back to them on one of the couches.

"Hermione, we need to talk…" Draco stood up and turned around halting mid sentence.

"You are never going to believe this," Blaise said walking around him and sat Hermione on the couch.

She stared straight ahead. Draco quickly kneeled in front of her, taking her face in his hands and brushing a few stray hairs behind her ears. He looked back over at Blaise and Pansy.

"What happen?"

"Theo attacked her. I think Astoria helped because a few moments before I came out of the common room, Astoria came in looking all panicked and ran straight to her room. I knew she had left with Theo, so I went looking. This one ran right into me in her fight to get away."

"Attacked her how!" Draco growled standing up.

"He didn't get far. Hermione kicked him. But, he mentioned something about wanting to get a quick shag."

Pansy's eyes widened as Draco turned bright red; a stark contrast from his usual pale tone.

"Why does this keep happening to her?"

"This isn't the first time?" Pansy asked quietly eyeing Hermione who was staring at the floor not moving.

"She got attacked at t nightclub over the summer by a muggle."

"Over the summer? You spent the summer with her?"

Draco looked over at Hermione and then back at Pansy not saying a word.

"Good for you, Draco. I always knew you had it in you to be a good guy."

Draco looked incredulously at her.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm only a bitch because it gets me what I want. Not even I think that raping a girl is ok."

"You're not mad?"

"What? That you fell for Hermione Granger?" she scoffed. "Why would I be mad? I have Blaise here. Just don't be a complete prat and ruin it. She seems like a decent person."

Draco ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head.

"I'm living in a twilight zone."

"Tell me about it mate," Blaise said smiling at Pansy.

"Let's go back to the common room and let him handle his girl."

"Thanks Blaise," Draco said, which Blaise nodded in response before ushering Pansy out of the portrait hole.

Draco turned and crouched down in front of Hermione again.

"Hermione, baby, please look at me. I need to know you are ok."

Tears rolled steadily down her face for a moment before she slowly turned her eyes to him. His heart broke at the look in her eyes.

"Oh Hermione." He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her, running his hands comfortingly up and down her back.

She began to cry harder and he scooped her up and sat her in his lap on the couch where he continued to hold her for over an hour. Finally her tears died down and he pulled back to look at her.

"It's going to be ok. I'm not going to let him touch you again."

"You can't… always be there." She tried to regulate her breathing unsuccessfully.

"No, but I can make sure he is very clear on who's girl you are."

"You… don't even care… about me like that. You made… that… clear."

"Hermione, look at me!" She looked up at him. Tears still pooled in her eyes, but did not fall.

"You are crazy if you think I don't care about you. I care about you far more than I care to admit out loud because it borderlines on scary. I will not let anything happen to you. You are my girl and I am the only one allowed to touch you."

"Your girl?" she practically whispered the words.

"Yes, unless of course you object." He smiled lightly at her.

"A secret?"

"Maybe for a little while. Let me handle things with Theo first. Then I'll shout it in the middle of the Great Hall if you wish."

"I missed you."

He smiled a real smile, not his famous sneer, but a real smile and brushed a hair behind her ear.

"I missed you too."

He leaned forward and brushed his lips lightly against hers before pulling back.

"What do you say we go to bed?"

"We?"

"You don't think I'm going to let you sleep alone, do you?" She shrugged. "Well, I'm not. Come on."

She took his hand after standing up and followed him up the stairs and into his room. It was decked out in emerald greens and silvers. He had emerald green silk sheets on his bed. He went to his dresser and pulled out a long t-shirt and handed it to her. Hermione went into the bathroom and washed her face and slid into the t-shirt. It fell to just above her knees. She walked back out into his room and sat her robes on an empty chair. He was already lying in bed in a pair of pajama pants.

"Have I ever told you that I absolutely love you in my clothes?"

She shook her head and climbed onto his bed. She curled up in a ball with her back to him and pulled the sheet up around her tightly.

"Oh no you don't." He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her onto her back and was leaning over her. "You don't get to sleep in my bed and not let me hold you."

"Draco…" He put a finger up to silence her.

"Don't even think about making excuses. You're here… I'm here. I want to hold you. Please."

She watched him carefully for a moment before nodding. He smiled and leaned down to her and pressed his lips to hers. Hermione brought her arms up around his neck, weaving her hand in his hair and pulled him harder against her. A low grumble sounded from deep in Draco's chest. His hand came up to rest on her hip, drawing small circles on her bare skin as the shirt had rode up to expose her panties. They pulled away breathlessly a few moments later.

"We should stop." Draco nodded as he said it.

"Why?"

"Because you are in no state to go any further and if we do, I'm not sure I can stop."

"Thank you."

He paused and looked at her confused.

"For always knowing what I need. You haven't known me that long and yet you know better than anyone."

"Well, what can I say; I'm quite addicted to you, Granger."

"I quite love the feeling of your lips on me."

He grinned devilishly and dipped his head to her neck. She felt him lay a few kisses along her collar bone before his tongue traced a path back up to her ear. Goose bumps erupted all over her body. He nipped gently at the spot behind her ear causing her to groan. He placed two more kisses there and then pulled away, lying down on the bed and pulling her to him. She wrapped her arm around his chest; laid her head on his shoulder, and threw one leg over his.

"You are going to kill me," he groaned.

She tilted her head up and smiled at him before laying a kiss on his neck, cuddling against him, and closing her eyes to welcome sleep.