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Of Foes and Friends	By : Juliesnaps Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 14023 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: Only J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. Not me. This is written for entertainment purposes only, no financial gain is made from this.

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Hermione stayed in the hospital wing a whole week, being nursed back to full strength in the capable hands of Madam Pomfrey. Molly and Arthur occasionally dropped by to check in on her and the professors dropped off assignments and keep her up to date. Hermione had insisted they do that, saying "if you don't I will come to class. I didn't come back here with the intention of falling behind." Headmistress McGonagall had chuckled at her statement. "I doubt you could fall behind even if you stayed away for ten years," she'd answered in her thick Scottish accent.

As soon as she got out, she headed to the library. Her assignments were tucked under her arm and her bag was slung over her shoulder. She looked quite the sight, her curls were a right mess and her clothes hung off her body like she'd lost 20 pounds in the blink of an eye. Still, she made the trek from the hospital wing to the library like a woman on a mission. Her favorite desk was empty as usual, it was right underneath a large window in a secluded corner. During the day there was plenty of natural light and the window let in a refreshing breeze. At night she would catch herself stargazing instead of reading. It was quite the pesky habit, really.

Hermione set herself up and started working at a comfortable pace. Exhaustion still held her in its grip, but she paid it no heed. After two hours she was words away from being done. She had a feeling most of the professors had tried to go easy on her with the homework, everybody except professor Snape. He'd taken her wish to be treated like the other students seriously. Hermione was grateful for it. Nothing was worse than the pity she saw every time she looked into Molly and Arthur's eyes. They had promised Hermione not to breathe a word of what happened and Molly assured her, many times over, that she hadn't told Ginny about the rape, only the baby.

Which is why Ginny went and found Hermione in the library as soon as she heard of the young woman's release. "So, is that why you broke up with Ron? You slag! You were cheating on him, weren't you?" The redhead asked in the meanest whisper Hermione had ever heard. Tears prickled at the corner of her eyes as she shook her head. She didn't want to do this, not right now. She was so close to being up to date with her assignments and she hadn't cried all day. It was the first day in weeks that Hermione hadn't been a complete and total emotional wreck. Ginny eyed her suspiciously, "how can you have had a miscarriage if you weren't sleeping around? Ron was constantly complaining about how you wouldn't shag him, so I know it wasn't him."

Hermione silently got all her things together, feeling the anger rise in her again. The same feeling she'd felt on the train. As she stood up she whispered, "Ginny, I'm going to go now." Instead, her classmate stepped right in front of her. "No, Hermione. You're going to tell me how this happened right now. Ron deserves to know."

A cold laugh erupted from Hermione's lips, "trust me Gin, he knows. Why don't you ask him why your parents are on my side." With a flick of her wand she non-verbally moved the stunned witch out of the way and excited the library.

-*-*-*-

Draco had been on the other side of the shelves when the Weasley girl had stormed in. When he saw another altercation about to happen he stayed put. He did not know why but he felt the need to protect Granger from the little spitfire. He watched the whole situation, wand in hand, with rapped attention. Every little twinge of fear, pain, sadness and anger passed over her face, like an open book. When Hermione finally managed to get away from the redhead, Malfoy followed.

In his mind, he'd pieced together an idea of what could have happened. He'd just never pegged Ron as the type of person that could do such a thing. To top it off, the youngest Weasley seemed to be clueless as to how her former friend could have gotten pregnant without having willingly slept with somebody. Sadly, Draco had seen men rape women at raids and had a pretty good image of what was going on. Even worse, a female initiate to the Death Eater ranks had to 'service' any male who wanted her. It was the test to see if she was strong enough of character to take on the dark mark. Hermione was despondent and fragile like Pansy had been after her induction to the ranks. He cringed at the thought of what his mother had been through for hers. The only person he'd heard of that had actually enjoyed it was his aunt, Bellatrix.

He half expected Hermione to go to Gryffindor tower, instead he watched her going down flight upon flight of steps and out into the cool September air. Once she reached the lake, he watched her crumple to her knees and let out a deafening sob. Her shuddering shoulders and frantic wailing only reinforced his theory. Slowly he moved towards her, uncertain of what to do. Draco's instincts took over and he got down on the ground next to her and pulled her to him, hugging her close. Hermione tensed when she first felt the unfamiliar arms around her body - she wanted to scream and push him away. Feeling how rigid she'd become at his touch, Draco murmured into her ear, "shhh, I've got you now. He won't be able to get to you. You're safe here." He gently stroked her back, waiting for her to relax and the tears to stop.

Hermione pulled herself away from Draco with a sniffle and wiped her face. When she finally realized whose arms and voice had soothed her she was shocked and jumped away from him. "Granger, you really should be more appreciative of me," he grumbled at her reaction, "first I manage to stop you from falling all the way to the floor on the train. I got you to the hospital wing. And now, I've just let you blubber all over my favorite shirt." He wasn't sure why he was back to his old attitude, but it felt familiar and was a great deflecting mechanism.

Hermione looked down at her hands and muttered, "thank you." She missed the nod he gave in reaction before he got up. She was still staring at her chewed down nails when she yelled "why?" after him. He turned around and kept on walking backwards towards the castle. He shrugged his shoulders and answered, "you seemed like you needed a shoulder to cry on." Draco turned back and left a flustered and confused Hermione in his wake.

-*-*-*-

Draco's kindness had come as a surprise to Hermione, but it had been a relief as well. Even though she had the support of her professors and the Weasley parents, she felt slightly less alone knowing that Draco was there too. It was an odd thought and an even odder sensation. Hermione gathered up her things from the ground, wiped her cheeks again and walked back to the castle.

She was supposed to be staying in the Gryffindor seventh year girl dorms, with Ginny and her classmates. But how in the world was she supposed to do that now? Instead, she decided to make her way to the Room of Requirement. Thinking of a comfortable bed, a large bath tub and a well-lit desk with helpful books, she walked by the wall three times. After her third walk by, a subtle brown door appeared. Hermione walked in and saw more than she had bargained for. There was a whole library at her finger tips, a kitchenette, and a luxurious oak desk. The bed was soft as a pillow and would allow her to sink into the mattress. She even noticed a closet with a set of pajamas and clean robes for the morning.

Gleefully, Hermione ran to the desk and finished her assignments. The library inside the room of requirement had exactly the books she had wanted and needed to perfect what she was working on. Not even the Hogwarts library was this tailored to her needs. She felt giddy for the first time in weeks when she was finished with her homework. Seeing as the room of requirement had been so happy to oblige her with a large bath, she stripped down and ran the hot water. Hermione sank into the steaming tub, finally relaxing. She only had to think of the toiletries she needed and they would appear out of thin air.

Once the bath water had gone cold, she got out and stood in front of a funny looking mirror. It was very regal, smoothly decorated and had the words "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi" inscribed along the top edge. Her reflection was odd, and not what she was expecting. She looked like she'd gained the weight she'd lost, her hair was tame, she looked happy but most strangely of all, Draco Malfoy was standing next to her with his hand on her lower back. Paranoidly, Hermione checked her surroundings. Was she really standing there naked as the day she was born with Malfoy in the room? He was no where to be found, except in the mirror. Even from there he had a slick smirk on his face, watching her panicked behavior. Like a small child, Hermione even checked behind the mirror, just to make sure he wasn't there.

"You're a smart witch, Hermione, figure it out," she mumbled to herself while walking away from the mirror. "Erised...why does that seem so familiar?" She asked herself, hoping that talking out loud would help jog her memory. Suddenly, Hermione remembered her first year. The night Harry had found a magical mirror that showed his heart's desire. Did that mean she desired Malfoy? That couldn't possibly be true. The hand on her lower back had been a comforting gesture, she decided, all she wanted was to be happy, healthy and safe. Malfoy had been the last one to provide her anything of the sort; that's what Hermione logically decided anyways. She hated Malfoy.
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Of Foes and Friends