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When Lines Are Blurred	By : DivineAngel Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 29692 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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
- 15
- 16
- 17
Disclaimer:
Not mine

Chapter
16: NEWTs and Manoeuvres

The holiday slipped by
quickly and quietly. Much to Hermione's relief, Malfoy had gone home.
Since his recovery, he'd been prowling the corridors with clenched
fists and glaring at Hermione every time he caught sight of her. She
spent the two week holiday revising and listening to Lavender's
chattering. It was clear that her room mate had heard the rumours,
but was determined not to believe them, and insisted on telling
Hermione every little thing she heard from anyone regarding the
events of the last week of term. She was also very excited about the
Leavers' Ball and had already started making her mask. Dumbledore
had, at Hermione and Justin's request provided some blank, full faced
masks for the students to take apart, colour and decorate. Justin had
spoken to a seamstress in Hogsmeade, preparing her for a flurry of
business and on the second-to-last day of the holidays Hermione and
Lavender took a walk down there to get their orders in before the
rush that was sure to come when the rest of the students got back.

Hermione was very much
looking forward to the Ball, she had never really felt before that
her actions and intentions had actually produced anything, other than
good grades. She had high hopes for the success of the Ball and
couldn't help but be a little distracted from her revision.

After some time away from
her friends, Hermione felt more able to face them, she understood
their reaction to finding out about her... whatever it was, with
Malfoy. She still felt hurt that they reacted so aggressively and
thought they had been childish by ignoring her, but she was beginning
to feel, if she was honest with herself, that maybe she might have
reacted the same way. She was waiting in the common room when they
returned, Harry, Ron and Ginny entered through the portrait hole
together, talking quietly. Hermione stood up and greeted them with a
broad smile.

"Good holiday?"
She asked brightly. Harry laughed, Ginny looked tired and Ron rolled
his eyes.

"It was a nightmare,
honestly. Percy was visiting and he just bent our ears the whole time
about how much work we should be putting in." Ron said, flopping
down into a sofa.

"He went on and on
for hours about how to get noticed for Head Girl." Ginny whined.
Only Harry was smiling.

"He left you alone,
did he, Harry?" Hermione asked with a grin.

"Yep." He
smirked. "Well, he might have given me the odd prod, but he
didn't push too hard. I just tuned him out. It was a valuable skill I
learnt living with the Dursleys." He sat on the arm of the sofa
and pulled Ginny into a hug. Hermione's smile began to drop, as the
conversation dried up. She couldn't think what to say and none of
them seemed to be about to ask about her holiday. She sighed, she
knew it would take more time for things to be back the way they
should be and knew she had to focus her attention on the exams, which
were now only a few weeks away.

"I was just about to
head to the library, lots of revision to do." She picked up a
book and some parchment from the table and set off, receiving only
vague nods from the others.

Hermione got to the
library and made herself comfortable at a table. Just a few minutes
later, she heard someone come in and looked up. Malfoy stood looking
at her, an odd look on his face. His hair was flopping on either side
of his face, his shirt was clinging sexily to his body and Hermione
had to take a steadying breath.

"Hi." He spoke
after a few moments and walked towards her. She put her hand on her
wand, which was tucked into her pocket, unsure of what he was up to
and wanting to be ready for anything. She didn't speak, just waited
for him to make his move. He stopped a few feet from her desk and
smiled at her, it was a humble smile. "So, everyone kind of
knows." He said quietly. Still she didn't say anything. "Look,
what I said, it was awful." She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Ok,
it was really deplorable. I'm sorry, ok?" She tilted her head,
trying to make out if he was genuine or not.

"Well, I was a
little too quick to pull my wand on you." She admitted, but
without an apology. His smile turned up a gear, into his most
charming one. Something inside Hermione clicked, like a light switch,
she knew he was putting it on for her, that smile was reserved for
when he wanted to manipulate her most.

"I've missed you the
last few weeks." He said, perching on her desk and playing with
her quill. After a moment he tossed it aside and leaned down,
brushing his lips against her cheek and whispered in her ear, "Let's
go somewhere, the astronomy tower, maybe." Hermione clucked her
tongue and he pulled away quickly, his smile gone and a slight
flicker of fear in his eyes.

"You know what,
Malfoy? I don't think so. I think you should scurry along like the
rodent you are." He was totally taken aback. He didn't need
telling twice though as he immediately stood and left, marching
quick-time. Hermione chuckled to herself.

"Well done."
She said out loud. "What an arsehole." She shook her head
and got down to work.

The next few weeks flew
like nothing Hermione had ever known before. Though growing better,
her friendships with Harry, Ron and Ginny were still tense by the
time exams came around and she had spent a good portion of her time
with Justin. They had made sure all the preparations for the Ball had
been completed before Easter, knowing they would need the last few
weeks to revise, so they worked hard at all hours on preparing for
the all-important NEWTs.

The three week exam
period was stressful for all the seventh years. It seemed to some
that the teachers were going out of their way to scare the students,
constantly banging on about the life-long consequences of their NEWT
results. Thankfully, Professor Sprout was more than happy to give her
students, at least, some crucial tips on relaxing and sleeping well
and eating a healthy diet, she emphasized that these things were just
as important to doing well as studying. Ron took her advice to heart,
doing his best to sleep and eat as much as possible in between study
sessions. Hermione worried her way through every written and
practical exam, those around her noticed the deep frown permanently
fixed to her forehead.

Her final exam was
History of Magic on Friday morning of the last week. Professor
McGonagall collected the papers at the end and Hermione walked slowly
out of the great hall, behind the practically running students
desperate to get on with the celebrations. Harry and Ron had their
Care of Magical Creatures practical in the afternoon and Justin was
still sitting his Astronomy written, which was an hour longer than
her own exam. So Hermione made her way outside on her own. She sat by
a tree, a sort distance from the lake, listening to the laughter and cheers of other students
nearby who had begun letting their hair down. She undid her robes and
laid them out to lie back in the glorious sunshine, straightening her
skirt and taking her shoes and socks off to cool her feet in the long
grass. She closed her eyes and felt the beautiful warmth wash over
her, the light breeze rustling the leaves in the nearby tree. A smile
spread over her face as she thought about what it meant that her
exams had finished. It wasn't just another summer holiday about to
start, this was it, she was leaving school and going on with life. It
was more than a little bit frightening, school was a protected place,
the students were shielded from the real world to a large extent and
soon she would be living in it on her own. But she was also excited
by the idea, the challenge was exhilarating to her. She began to dose
off, lost in her thoughts and bathed in warm sunlight.

Somewhere, a slight tingling sensation interrupted her dreams, subtle at first, she
wasn't sure if it was part of her dream or not. She began to stir as
the sensation grew, she lifted a hand to her eyes, shielding them
from the sun as they flickered open. A shadow moved across her face,
blotting out the bright light, she couldn't make out the face and in
her dazed state she still wasn't sure she was actually awake. She
became aware that the rather pleasant tingling was caused by a hand
gently caressing her bare, sun kissed thigh. She sat up suddenly and
the world came into focus.

"Malfoy, get your
filthy hands off me!" She screamed at the sight of him kneeling
beside her, his hand resting rather too high on her inner thigh. He
put his finger to her lips and leaned close, gently laying her back
down.

"There now. I
thought we could celebrate together." He gave her a wicked grin
and leaned in to kiss her. She let his lips meet hers and his tongue
flicked out, she welcomed it, allowing him access to her mouth,
deepening the kiss. She didn't know what she was doing, she felt
restless and in need of attention. A moment later reality snapped
back into play and she pushed him away hard, sitting up and
scrambling backwards.

"Malfoy." She
snarled, searching for her wand. He coughed and her head snapped back
to him, he was holding her wand, twirling it in his fingers and
smirking at her. She looked around, but there was a distinct lack of
support, the sun was high overhead, the afternoon was growing late
and everyone had disappeared to meet friends from the afternoon
exams.

"Come on, Granger.
For old time's sake." He moved to her again and grabbed her
shoulders, roughly throwing her to the ground and pinning her there.
She kicked out hard with both legs and let out a scream, thrashing
with her hands at his face. Malfoy clamped a hand down on her mouth,
stifling her cries and pressed himself over her, keeping her from
lashing out. She continued to struggle as he manoeuvred himself
between her legs and thrust his groin against hers. He grabbed at her
skirt and ripped her shirt open, she screamed again and he hit her
hard across the face. Tears were flowing freely and Hermione felt the
world disintegrating around her. She was alone and afraid.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry and Ron wiped sweat from their brows, tucked away their wands and slowly walked away from the paddock in the forest, the huge shadow of Hagrid busy tidying up behind them. They were relieved that their exams were over and as soon as they were out of Hagrid's earshot they burst into excited laughter. They took a slight detour past the lake on their way to the castle and took a moment to look out over the nearly still water, and watched the giant squid put in a brief appearence. Ron was skimming stones over the lightly rippling surface when Harry thought he heard something odd. Something like a muffled cry. He reached out and stopped Ron's arm mid-throw, his stone plopped down into the water.

"Shh. Did you hear that?" He asked. Ron looked around. Another cry echoed across the valley and without hesitation Harry and Ron ran in the direction of the woman's screams. It didn't take long for them to spot the struggling female beneath Malfoy, they charged at him, wands drawn and as one they cried,

"Pello!" Malfoy was thrown back, Harry ran to Hermione, helping her sit up and comforting her. In an exceptioanal moment of observation and quick thinking, Ron saw Hermione's wand in Malfoy's hand and in a flash he summoned it right out of the Slytherin's fingertips. Malfoy sat, defeated, but his eye shifted back and forth, looking for an escape route as Ron approached him, his wand pointing at Malfoy's throat.

"Don't move an inch you disgusting ferret." Ron growled in a threatening voice. Malfoy smirked up at him, his elbows resting on his cocked knees.

"What's the matter Weaslebee? Jealous? She's good, you know. An animal." Hermione got to her feet, wiping the tears from her cheeks. She walked forward and put her hand on Ron's arm, gently lowering his wand. To her surprise, Ron didn't look angry, he was looking at Malfoy with pity in his eyes. Harry, on the other hand came rushing forward and threw himself on Malfoy, grabbing him and pushing him to the floor. Hermione screamed for him to stop, but the two wrestled with each other on the floor, Harry got a couple of punches to Malfoy's abdomen before Ron got in there to pull them apart.

"You are such an arsehole, Malfoy." Harry spat. "You have treated Hermione like crap for seven years and it's come to this, you try to rape her." Hermione stood behind him, trembling and obsessively straightening her skirt and pulling her shirt closed across her chest. Malfoy stood up slowly, clutching his side.

"Just ask her, Potter, she loves it. She's been loving it all fucking year."

At that, both Harry and Ron charged at Malfoy, knocking him to the ground and landing repeated blows to his body and face, Malfoy's arms lashed out, but found it hard to make contact. Hermione watched in shock and anger, helpless to stop the madness. She grabbed her wand where it lay abandoned by Ron in the tussle and ran, still barefoot up to the castle. She ran through the front doors into the deserted entrance hall, looking wildly around for a friendly face, seeing no one she made for the grand staircase, taking the stairs two at a time, the cold stone stinging her feet. She charged along the first floor corridor, no idea where she was heading, panic had gripped her and she didn't know what to do. Never had she felt so utterly lost.

She took a short cut up a narrow staircase hidden behind a tapestry and burst out at the top, crashing headlong into a tall, hard body. Hands gripped her shoulders and held her steady, a voice entered her consciousness through her cries and blurred vision.
"Hermione? Hush, what's wrong?" Strong arms encircled her and held her head tight against a firm chest. As her sobs subsided, Hermione became aware that it was Justin who was holding her and stoking her hair. A wave of gratefulness washed over her, fresh tears filled her eyes, now of relief and she shook in his arms.

"Thank god. Justin." She spluttered between loud sobs, wrapping her arms around him and holding him tight. He gently steered her along the corridor, he knew people would be appearing any minute to head for dinner. Thinking quickly he lead her to a narrow passage that connected this corridor to another, it was dark and not well used, he lead her down it and finally let go as she sank to the floor. After a minute she was able to speak, she told him what had happened and what she had run from. Justin listened patiently, sitting beside her and holding her in a lose one-armed hug.

They sat like that for a long time, neither knew how long. Students had filed noisily past to dinner and all had gone quiet again. Justin was the first to speak.

"Look, everyone will be coming back, it'll be dark soon. Do you want to head back to Gryffindor tower while I go and check on Harry and Ron?" Hermione nodded and stood up.

"My robes and shoes." She whispered, her throat sore from crying and talking.

"I'll look for them. Meet me back here in half an hour. Ok?" She nodded again and drifted off to the safety of Gryffindor tower. Justin set off at a jog for the spot Hermione had described, worried sick about what he might find.

AN: I hope that satisfies your appetites for now. The finale is on its way! Now go review, I'm a total review whore, let me know what you think, if it's bad I will edit, but I won't know if you don't tell me!
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