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Silencio	By : AkashaTheKitty Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 40943 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
Author�s Note 1: It�s amusing how some of your
comments don�t seem to take into account that I wrote this. Perhaps that�s its
own praise, huh? That you believe the characters enough and they resemble canon
enough that you don�t even consider that if I had e.g. wanted Ginny to approve,
then she would have. Also, I don�t really need ideas for how to untangle this
mess, but thank you anyway ;) I know where I�m going. *follows the yellow brick
road*

Author�s Note 2: I hope you like angst�

Thanks to Miss
Nibbles for inviting me across the Atlantic to bake cookies (not today,
honey) and to Maz
for having improved his betaing skills!

**********

Draco watched
Hermione go with a cold detachment.

Don�t bother, he wanted to
say. It won�t change anything. It�s
enough that she knows.

But it did
matter. They still had to do damage control. So he stayed quiet and blessed the
recurrence of his ability to shut down all feelings. If he had ever needed it,
now was the time.

He had revealed
his need and the danger to Hermione and it was all for nothing. His lips had
barely touched hers before it was all over.

All over. Forever.

No, he mustn�t
think about that now. He would have plenty of time to lament his loss later,
but now it was all about getting that stupid little Weasley bitch to keep her
mouth shut.

Merlin, how he
hated her.

He had a few
ideas about how he could forcibly erase the memory from her mind, but he was
well aware that Hermione would never let him. She might even hate him for even
suggesting it. He considered doing it anyway, as he was well aware of the risk
the mere presence of the knowledge presented, but at the thought of all the
things that could go wrong, Draco dropped the idea. By using a spell he could
render the chit brain-dead or worse. It wasn�t because he cared if her brain
stopped functioning, she was a Weasley after all and it hardly made a
difference, but because of the pain it would cause Hermione and how much she
would despise him for it. Soon she would be hurting and despising him anyway,
but at least she would still have her friend.

He fucking hated
caring about her. He hated caring about her feelings. He hated the way she could
turn those big brown eyes on him and make him feel like an absolute cad when he
was only telling the truth. He hated that he was almost certain that he�d made
her cry yesterday. He hated that he was completely certain that he would make
her cry again. Possibly today.

He wished he
could just go back to hating her.

Ah, but you never hated her quite as much as you
should, did you?

Draco had to
admit that he hadn�t. He had always lived a very sheltered existence and
Hermione had been one of the first muggleborn he had
ever met as far as he knew. He would probably not even have noticed her at
first if she hadn�t been hanging around that annoying, self-righteous Potter.
It wasn�t that he�d been attracted to her, he had been too young to even
contemplate that, but he just hadn�t felt the same level of contempt for her as
he did for Saint Potter and the Weasel, even after he found out about her
birth. He had made up for it in insults as best he could, but it just hadn�t
seemed to work. She just wasn�t what he�d expected from everything he�d ever
heard about Mudbloods.

Still, it was a
long way from not quite hating someone to� to�

Draco�s volatile
feelings threatened to resurface and he blocked out the thought. He didn�t have
time for that now. He had to stay composed so he could do what needed to be
done.

As calmly as he
could, he waited.

When Hermione
finally got back she was looking shaken and her eyes were red-rimmed. It
apparently hadn�t gone so well.

�Will she talk?�
Draco asked, dimly aware that his voice was cool and distant.

Hermione glanced
at him and then swallowed. �No� No, she won�t,� she said shakily. He could tell
she wasn�t telling him everything.

�Then what?� he
asked.

Hermione looked
as if she might cry and he hadn�t even started yet. What the fuck had that
pathetic little excuse for a witch been saying to her? He felt anger swelling
in him and he tamped it down.

�She said�� she
began and then faltered before taking a breath and trying again. �She told me
that I had to tell my friends.�

�Not a chance,
Granger,� he said. Hermione�s eyes widened at the use of her last name. �You
won�t tell them a thing,� he coldly
pushed on.

�She won�t stand
by and let this continue,� she whispered, clearly realizing where this was
going.

He had to get
out of there, he couldn�t do this. Not yet. �Been fun,� he said. �But you knew
as well as I did that it was over the second she saw us.�

�What happened
to �can�t stay away�?� she whispered. �What happened to �can�t resist�?�

Draco�s control
was slipping fast; he needed to end this now.
He violently grasped her shoulders, digging his fingers into her soft flesh
through the fabric of her robes, sneering into her frightened face. �I told you
that nobody can know,� he growled,
slightly shaking her. �What do you think this is? Some epic love story? We
fucked, we got caught and now it�s over!
Real life caught up, princess.� He thrust her away, sending her stumbling, and
he walked away, willing himself not to flinch at the muffled sound of her sobs.

**********

Draco was soon
finding himself fighting a losing battle. He had gone to his newly found secret
refuge, the bloody girls� bathroom on second floor. That whiny little ghost
they called Moaning Myrtle was effectively keeping everyone at bay and nobody
would dream of looking for him here. His hands clasped tightly on a stone sink,
he was hyperventilating.

It�s not too late, he
thought. If I go back and tell her I�m
sorry�

NO! He couldn�t.
She�d be as good as dead. They would all be. An image flashed through his mind
of Hermione dead, her eyes glossed over and unseeing.

He grasped the
sink even harder. He could do this, he could let her go.

To her it was
just sex anyway. Sex wasn�t worth dying for. Not unless there was more. Was
there more? NO! It didn�t matter. It wasn�t worth her dying. His miserable
existence would be snuffed soon enough, but she would live! The war might kill
her yet, but he couldn�t be the reason. He just couldn�t.

�What�s wrong?�
Myrtle asked, popping her head through a stall.

Of course. It
had been too much to ask to just be left alone.

�Nothing,� he
gasped, mildly surprised at how hard it was for his body to register the
oxygen. �I just need to�� He didn�t finish the sentence. He couldn�t finish it.
What was he supposed to say? �I just need to pick up the pieces of my heart so
I can go out there and pretend that I can�t stand the girl starring in all my
dreams and my every bloody waking fantasy�? He was screwed.

�It doesn�t look
like nothing,� Myrtle observed. �You can tell me.�

He wanted to, he
realized to his great surprise. He longed to tell someone. But he couldn�t.
Myrtle wasn�t the brightest of people � or ghosts � and couldn�t be trusted not
to let something slip.

�I�m fine,� he
said. �Please leave me alone.�

He wished he had
appreciated Hermione more � been nicer to her or something. He ached just to
hold her again and cursed himself for not savoring it while he had the chance.
He had assumed there�d be another time, another chance. There wouldn�t now, not
ever. Even if the Dark Lord were defeated, they wouldn�t have a chance. He was
on the wrong side. He would kill Dumbledore or die trying and she would forever
hate him for his treachery. Even if she might come to understand his motives,
she would hate him for not doing what she�d call the right thing.

The odds of him
surviving the next few months were extremely bad, anyway.

When he had
realized that he did indeed love her, he had wanted to break it off right away.
He knew that while there might be some quarter given when it was just a
physical relationship, loving her was unacceptable. Even his parents might cut
him off for that. But then, after he had done some thinking, he had arrived at
the conclusion that he was likely to die and that nobody would get hurt by him
stealing a little happiness before that happened. He would love Hermione so
often and so well that she would have no cause for complaint. He would make sure that she wouldn�t regret it even
after she realized what he was.

But it hadn�t
worked out like that. They had been caught before he could even get a
satisfying kiss.

He felt the
dampness on his cheeks and sneered at his own mirror image.

Get a grip!

He couldn�t get
a grip. Once the dam was breached, the flow only got worse.

He would never
touch her again. Never kiss her. She would never know how much he longed to.
She would have to be convinced that he was a coldhearted bastard who had only
been using her, when nothing could be further from the truth.

A
heart-wrenching sob racked his body.

�It gets better
if you talk about it�� Myrtle said in a gentle voice.

And to his own
great horror, he did.

**********

Draco took to
avoiding Hermione, but he knew he was living on borrowed time. She would bounce
back and seek him out once enough time had passed. She might think herself weak
and him a cold and arrogant prat, but in reality she
was gutsy and determined and she knew him much better than either of them would
openly admit. All of this were things he loved about
her, but it was also what made him need to be ruthless to her. If she started
pursuing him he would without a doubt succumb to her advances and he couldn�t
allow that to happen.

A week passed. Two. The days blurred together and the weeks just kept
passing. Draco was both glad that he was allowed time to compose himself and
wishing that it would truly be over. Not even almost killing Ronald Weasley by
mistake cheered him. It was probably the �almost� bit, because Merlin knew he
would love to see the whole Weasley branch eradicated.

Potter getting
brained at yet another Quidditch match that Draco
chose to miss, helped a little more, but again � the fact that he�d get over it
ruined it. That and the way he caught a glimpse of a worried and relieved
Hermione later that day. He could never wish unhappiness on her. If Potter
living made her happy, then he would almost gladly tolerate his existence.

This annoyed
him. Since when was he such a
lovesick fool? He�d never get the girl and if this was being in love then good
riddance! He didn�t like being subject to her every mood and whim when they
hadn�t even spoken in weeks! He didn�t like pining for her at night! He didn�t
like all this� feeling! Gladly
tolerate Potter�s existence, indeed!

Still, he
wouldn�t change a thing about what had happened. If he could do it all over,
he�d only not get caught.

Ginny Weasley
was looking at him with even more contempt than she usually did, which really
didn�t bother him at all, but her relationship with Hermione also seemed
strained. What was wrong with the brainless little bitch? Couldn�t she tell
that Hermione probably would need a friend who knew what was going on, right
about now? Hermione might not love him, but he had been her first lover and he
was by now being an enormous jerk to her at every chance he got. He saw the
hurt in her eyes when he taunted her and it tore at him. The Weasley chit
should be comforting her, not judging her.

Merlin knew that
he was glad that he had someone he
could confide at least partly in, even though it was just a silly ghost and even
though he couldn�t be too specific. Somehow it made everything a little easier
to hear someone tell him that he wasn�t the worst creep on the planet and that
it would all be all right. Even if he knew it was all a lie.

He was deep in
thought as he was quickly walking along the fourth floor corridor. The place
was deserted as classes had already started. He was late again and he didn�t
really care.

Suddenly a
certain brunette stepped out from the shadows to block his way.

�Get out of my
way, Mudblood,� he snarled. Their agreement had expired as soon as he hadn�t
needed her anymore, which was ironic in its own way.

�No,� Hermione
replied in a clear and steady voice.

�I�m late for
class,� he said, attempting to push her away, but finding himself at wandpoint.

�Isn�t that just
too bad?� she coolly asked. �We will talk.�

He never thought
he�d see the day when she didn�t care about classes. �I have nothing to talk to
the likes of you about,� he responded. �Now get that wand out of my face and
scram.�

She rolled her
eyes at him. �You�re trying too hard,� she informed him. �Why?�

�On the
contrary, my little Mudslut, I stopped trying at
all.� He leaned his shoulder lazily against the wall.

�I don�t believe
you.�

He sighed.
�Look, Granger,� he calmly said. �I know that I�ll be hard to top in the sack,
but you really have to let it go.�

She narrowed her
eyes. �Who are you?�

You don�t want to know.

�You bloody well
know who I am,� he said irritably. �It�s not my fault that you�re so fucking
gullible that you�ll jump into bed with anyone who makes moony eyes at you.�

He noticed the
hurt before she managed to hide it. Why couldn�t she just leave him alone? He
wanted to pull her close and kiss her until the world went away and instead he
had to stand here, watching her just accept the blows. Why? Why couldn�t she
just give it up? Why couldn�t she stop being so bloody stubborn, just this
once?

�I didn�t see
you complaining,� she calmly replied. �In spite of me being a Mudblood and all.�

�Well,� he said,
deliberately giving her his most lecherous look. �I have to admit that you were
good. You could easily go pro, you know� I guess your kind has some uses.�

She gasped as if
he�d slapped her. In a sense he supposed he had. He calmly met her eyes. She
was obviously fighting for some control. He wished that she would slap him and
tell him never to go near her again.

�This isn�t the
last of it,� she said in a trembling voice, before she turned and walked away
from him.

He was afraid
that she was right.

**********

Draco didn�t
drink. Alcohol made people do stupid and embarrassing things and he had never
seen the appeal of it. He preferred to point and laugh at those who did drink
and perhaps blackmail them the next day using photographs of them in assorted
compromising positions. At least that was his usual modus operandi.

Tonight he had
decided to forget all that and had robbed Crabbe�s stash. Well, not literally
robbed. He had, in fact, paid generously for the goods. He just really wanted
to sleep tonight and he had been assured that if he consumed enough fire
whiskey then he would sleep soundly for several hours. He was currently working
on that. He couldn�t drink too fast, though, or he would just get sick.
Fortunately it probably wouldn�t take much since he wasn�t used to the stuff.

He grimaced as
he took another gulp. It burned. He actually rather liked that feeling: it
matched his mood. But it still took some getting used to.

He was lounging
on a comfortable sofa in the common room, which was already deserted. Maybe not
�already� since it was 2 a.m., but it was Friday and that usually meant that
some people stayed up later. Still, it didn�t matter; he didn�t want to be
sociable.

Another swallow;
another grimace.

When was this
stuff supposed to start working, anyway? He didn�t feel anything. He was tired,
to be sure, but he always was. He hadn�t had a decent night�s sleep since he
had to sleep alone again. He used to either not have the nightmares or to wake
up and hear Hermione�s soft breathing and feel her slow heartbeat as her warm
body was snuggled against him. He would bury his face in her wild hair and it
would calm him and lull him right back to sleep. The cold, empty darkness
didn�t quite have the same effect.

He was lifting
the glass to his lips again as Shaw entered the room from the dormitories.
Perhaps she couldn�t sleep either.

�Drinking alone,
Draco?� she asked, sounding amused. �That�s never a good sign.�

�Shut up,� he
said unceremoniously as he took another swig.

�You�re such a prat,� she said, but instead of leaving him alone she went
over and sat down next to him. Unfortunately she knew him well enough not to
take his words at face value. �Can a girl have a taste?�

�Only got one
glass,� he said, about to lift it again as it was lifted from his hand and she
drained it. He looked at her with some amusement; the girl was certainly not
shy.

�So,� she said,
grimacing. Draco was glad he wasn�t the only one doing that. �I know why I�m
drinking, why are you?�

�None of your
fucking business,� he said, snatching back the glass and refilling it.

�You�re such a
bundle of joy tonight, Draco,� she said, leaning back and stretching, which
incidentally showed off her breasts to an advantage. Draco didn�t even bother
hiding his glance as he was perfectly aware that she knew it too. �I bet you
it�s a girl,� she added.

�I already told
you it was none of your business,� he said irritably, downing half of his glass
and wincing as the burn brought tears to his eyes. He coughed slightly.

�She pretty?�
she teased. �How does it feel, not having the luxury of not caring?�

�So, what are you up to, Marilyn?� he countered.
�Still mooning after Zabini while he sneaks off to shag Pansy? Or doesn�t he
even bother to sneak anymore?�

That got a rise
out of her. �What the fuck do you
know?� she growled, again snatching his drink and swigging it. Her eyes were
shiny and her cheeks were tinged with red. Draco felt a brief pang of empathy
as he realized that she might be feeling some of the same things he was.

�I know that it�s
about time you got over him and moved on,� he said, accepting his glass back.
�He doesn�t even respect you. Why the Hell do you let
him carry on like this?�

�Look who�s
talking,� she sneered. �Treated Pansy like dirt for months and now you�re here,
drinking, because whoever she is doesn�t want you. You�re one fucked up mess,
you know that?�

�Who said she
didn�t want me?� he said tonelessly, regretting it the minute the words were
out. Perhaps this stuff had an effect after all. He�d better be careful.

Marilyn�s eyes
widened. �If she does want you, then��

�Just stay the
fuck out of it!� he growled. �It�s none of your goddamn business why I�m doing
this!�

She moved closer
to him. �Fine,� she said. �But I get to have more of that drink.�

He handed her
his glass. Three quarters of the bottle was gone now. Was that a lot? He had no
clue. But his thoughts were less intense and that was a relief in itself. She
leaned in to get the bottle from him and his eyes fell on her chest again. She
giggled.

�Want to feel them?�
she asked, taking another generous swig of the golden liquid.

His eyes widened
slightly. �Merlin, Marilyn, no!� he said.

�Why not?� she
asked. �You wouldn�t be the first. Probably not the last either.�

�You�re drunk!�
he said, relieving her of his glass and booze. �Go to bed.�

�Yours or mine?�
she asked, winking at him.

�Yours,� he said
without hesitation.

She pouted a
little. She had the art of pouting down to perfection. �I don�t want to,� she
said. �Why do you have to be such a stickler?�

�You�ll thank me
in the morning.�

�No, I won�t,�
she said, moving closer to him on all fours on the couch. �What�s the problem?
People think we�re doing it anyway��

�I�m not
Zabini,� he said. �It�s not me you want.�

He was, however,
unable to not react to her proposition. He doubted any boy in school would be
immune. He shifted a little so she wouldn�t notice.

She smiled
sadly. �If you were Blaise, I would want a whole lot
more than just this. As it is, however, this will do.� She leaned closer and
kissed him.

He jumped back.
�Fuck, Marilyn, stop it!� he exclaimed.

It was all of a
sudden as if his mind was wrapped in wool and he found it hard to think
coherently, but he knew he didn�t really want this. At the same time he was
well aware of how soft she felt against him and how lonely these past weeks had
been.

His weakness
when it came to women really was overwhelming.

She leaned in
and kissed him again and this time he pulled her closer, crushing her, willing
her to object, to push him away. She didn�t. She was soft and compliant. He
longed for something warm and yielding. He couldn�t turn her down, didn�t want
to say no again.

Blocking out all
thought, he aimed to forget.

**********

He woke up,
heart pounding. He hadn�t had a nightmare, but something was bothering him,
making him feel guilty and on edge. This was combined with a slight headache
and a sour taste in his mouth. Right. He had been
drinking. With a start he realized that he wasn�t alone.

Hermione?

No, not
Hermione. His heart sinking and bile rising in his throat, he realized what he
had allowed to happen. He edged as far away from the sleeping form as he could,
lighting his wand before poking her with a foot.

�Wake up!� he
whispered, not quite wanting to hear his own voice. If he didn�t, then maybe
this wasn�t real. �Go back to your own bed!� Yes, please go back to your bed. I don�t want you sleeping in mine.

�Hmpf,� Marilyn mumbled sleepily. �Back to your charming old
self, are you?� she sat up, stretching and yawning, allowing him a perfectly
good view of her naked body. He looked away.

�You don�t want
Zabini seeing you coming from my bed, do you?� he asked bitterly. He hadn�t
wanted this.

�You know
perfectly well that he wouldn�t care,� she replied as she was slipping on her
underwear. �And that if he did, I would be thrilled.�

Yes, he knew.
But he couldn�t be rid of her fast enough. �Just leave,� he said.

She smiled a
little sadly at him. �Don�t worry, she�ll never know. Not from me.�

An involuntary
shudder went through him and his vision got blurry. �Get out of here,� he
whispered.

She pulled on
her robes. �I thought that there was no way that you could be worse off than
me, but I was wrong. I don�t envy your being in love with Granger, what with
the Dark L��

�WHAT?� He had blanched and was staring
at her.

She stopped in
the middle of righting her robes and gave him a reproachful look. �I�m not
stupid, Draco,� she said. �You said her name.�

Had he? He
couldn�t remember. He didn�t want to try. He had just put Hermione in an even
greater danger than she already was. He gripped his wand tighter and wondered
what it would take to right this wrong.

�No need to look at me like that,� she continued. �Your secret
is safe with me. I have no reason to want to hurt either of you.�

�I�ll kill you
before you hurt her,� he said, not caring how revealing that statement was.

She nodded. �I
suspected as much. But do be careful what names you call your partners, not
everyone is as accepting as me.�

�And why would
you accept being used to fill in for a Mudblood?� he had to ask.

�I already knew
I was being used, as were you, and my brother married one to our parents� great
chagrin. They�re a lot like us, really, aren�t they?�

He didn�t reply.
No, they weren�t. If Hermione was anything to go by, they were a whole lot
better.

Marilyn smiled
softly at him. �See you around,� she quietly said and then slipped out and
disappeared.

He laid down and finally gave in to the overwhelming sense of
remorse that was threatening to consume him.

Now she has even more reason to hate me. All I wanted
was her and I can�t even tell her.

He knew that he
wasn�t with Hermione anymore; he knew that he never really had been; he knew
that he couldn�t ever be with her again. Still, he felt as if he�d betrayed
her. He knew without a doubt that she�d feel the same way if she ever found
out. He swallowed hard and tears sprang to his eyes for Merlin only knew what
time since that dreadful day they were found out. He didn�t want to hurt her.
He didn�t want her to hate him. He desperately wanted her to fall in love with
him too.

But he knew what
he had to do.

**********

Draco didn�t
have to wait long. In fact, the wait was lamentably short. He almost panicked
when she managed to corner him in public. He couldn�t use force to intimidate
her or rush off without attracting attention now. Still, her plan was somewhat
flawed, it seemed, for he wouldn�t be able to speak to her civilly either. This
didn�t seem to faze her.

�Why don�t you
go play with those first year Hufflepuffs a bit?� he
asked Crabbe. �It seems like they don�t know the rules.� He nodded towards a
group of children whose only offense was not staying sufficiently out of the
way. �You too, Goyle.�

They looked at
him oddly but obeyed. They weren�t quite ready to disobey him yet, but they
were becoming a liability. They knew that his family�s standing with the Dark
Lord was rapidly decreasing and if he didn�t finish his mission soon, they
would rebel. He supposed it was pure survival instinct on their part.

�Charming,�
Hermione drily said. �For my benefit, I suppose?�

She looks lovely today. Did someone tell her? They
should.

�What do you
want, Granger? I haven�t got all day.� He looked away as he couldn�t quite look
her in the eye, his heart still pounding with near-panic, and instead he caught
Marilyn�s eye over her shoulder. She wasn�t close enough to hear anything that
was said, but her look of sympathy was apparent.

�I want you to
fulfill the last part of our agreement,� she calmly said.

�What are you
talking about?� he sneered.

She smirked at
him. �Conveniently forgot, did you? My free request.�

I get one free request. At
any time I may ask you for any one thing and you will have to do or give it.

He had forgotten. He could think of nothing
that he could do or give that would not conflict with his own stipulation: Only if at all possible
without risking my life, or
worse, risking hers.

�What is it you want, then?� he hoarsely asked. �Compensation for
your� time?�

Her eyes flared angrily. �You can forget about keeping that up, Malfoy. We both know better.�

�Then what?� he asked.

�Tell me what�s going on,� she said. �Tell me why you�re acting like
this.�

He felt as if he�d been punched and his eyes widened slightly,
giving away his surprise. He couldn�t tell her that he was trying to keep her
safe, because then she would only scoff at him and tell him just how capable
she was. He couldn�t tell her about the extent of the danger, because then
she�d demand to know more and he couldn�t tell her about his mission. If he
told her about that, she would expect him to become a bloody hero and when he
failed to do that, she would have no choice but to go to the Order with her
information. He couldn�t tell her anything. He briefly wondered how bad a curse
she had attached to this particular clause.

�Well?� she asked impatiently. �I�m waiting.�

�There�s been someone else,� he blurted out. It wasn�t a lie, but it
wasn�t actually answering the question either. He suspected that if she
attached a curse to this clause at all it would be related to whether he told
the truth, not whether he answered the question. He also realized that he
needed to tell her so that she would stay away and doing it under the cover of
her own attempt at extracting the truth from him was not a bad plan at all. In
fact it was cruel and devious and she would never forgive him even if she found
out that he was bending the truth.

He felt the panic rising again as he knew he wouldn�t be able to
turn back from this. Perhaps it really wasn�t necessary to tell her. Perhaps
she would accept that he�d just lost interest. He didn�t want to tell her, he
didn�t want to see the look in her eyes when truth hit home, didn�t want to
truly alienate her.

He didn�t want to eradicate all hope.

She obviously
didn�t believe him. �Really?� she asked. �And who might that be?�

His eyes
flickered back to Marilyn, who was still watching them and Hermione followed
his gaze.

�Her? Oh, come on, Malfoy! You tried that
one on me before.�

Yes, isn�t that ironic? I didn�t even want her then,
either. I just wanted to provoke that fire and fierceness in you that made you
almost devour me whole.

He slowly began
untying the scarf that he was wearing under the guise of a slight cold. He
noticed the widening in Marilyn�s eyes as she realized what he was up to. She
even shook her head at him, motioning for him to stop it, but he ignored her.
This was what he had to do.

Removing his
scarf, he craned his neck so Hermione would get a better view of the slowly fading
bruises covering it and trailing down onto his shoulders. The night he had
spent with Marilyn had been far from gentle and he knew that it showed. It had
been a hard and bruising fuck where he had kept demanding more and where
nothing had been enough.

That wasn�t to
say that he hadn�t gotten off, only that it had hardly been as satisfactory as
making love to Hermione was. Not even close. He knew that Hermione would
recognize the bruises for what they were, having adeptly administered a few to
him herself over the months.

�Want to see my
back too?� he asked in a distant voice. �I hear it�s quite a sight. And my left
arm��

Hermione had
gone completely still. She looked stricken and more than a little nauseous. He
could relate. Tears were gathering in her eyes. Fuck, not here. He hurriedly
replaced the scarf, blocking the view from her, carefully avoiding looking at
both Hermione and Marilyn.

�Y-you claimed
you weren�t into her,� Hermione said in a low, hurt and confused voice. �You
said��

�And it surprises
you that I lied, why?� he asked, just wishing to be dead already. �I cheated on
Pansy with you, and sleeping with Marilyn hardly qualifies as cheating on
anyone.�

I was unfaithful to you, I know. Please forgive me
after I�m dead, even if you don�t know my reasons.

�Do you love
her?� she asked. �Is that why?� She would actually forgive the supposed deceit
if it was because he had fallen in love? Yes, he supposed she would. She was
all honorable like that.

He gave a short,
bitter bark of a laughter. �What�s love got to do with
fucking?� he asked. �I hope you know better than to mix up those two things. I
would hate to get stuck with tender feelings from a Mudblood.�

Are you mad enough yet? Have I burned the pain out of
you? Attempting to cauterize your wounds is the least I can do to stop you from
feeling my agony.

She was unable
to keep back a sob as tears spilled from her eyes. It broke his heart all over
again. Why did he have to be so good at hurting her? He wanted to say
something, to comfort her, but he couldn�t. Instead he just stood there,
watching, as she turned and ran from him. She was openly crying, not caring how
many saw her.

Marilyn started
walking towards him, but before she could reach him, someone violently grabbed
his arm and flung him around.

�What did you do to her?� Potter furiously screamed at
him. �What did you say to her, you miserable sack of filth?� Draco didn�t have
time to reply, before he received a punch to the gut.

Welcoming the
fight, he tackled the other boy.

**********

I didn't want to say it in this way

I didn't want to see the day I'd say these words to you

I didn't want to have to explain

Sometimes heroes have to lose

It's killing me to see you cry

Would it make it any better if I told you I did it all
for you?

It was just another roll of the dice

Just another star in the sky

Tried to touch it but I couldn't fly

~Bon Jovi, River Runs Dry (Just because it seemed appropriate)

Author�s Note 3: You hate me now, don�t you? :P Did you seriously think I�d plant an OC just to give
Zabini a girlfriend? You underestimate the power of my laziness. Oh, and also
my evilness. A real bother that Shaw is actually sorta likeable, huh?

Author�s Note 4: The Ron and Harry incidents that
almost cheer Draco are canon. Look them up and don�t bother me about it :P

Author�s Note 5: Next chapter has a bit more Ginny in
it. It was hardly appropriate to delve into it in this one as she doesn�t have
anything to do with Draco. I was surprised that people said that she�s always
the one to bust them, but I suppose it makes sense. She seems to be rather
friendly with Hermione and confiding in her privately in canon, so she would be
the female friend one can draw on.
- 11
- 12
- 13
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