I had thought that living in a castle of over six hundred people, they would find something else to talk about. But I was to be proved wrong. Everywhere I went people seemed to be staring or whispering behind my back. General consensus seemed to be that Cormac and I had done more than just kiss. Apparently he had left the party shortly after I had, adding more fuel to the fire of their theories.
The night after my first detention I was subjected to an intense interrogation by both Parvati and Lavender who both seemed to be convinced that I was lying to them, despite my constant denials. If I hadn't been with Cormac then where I had been because I hadn't been in the common room when they got back? I hadn't much felt like sharing that I had been sitting crying in an empty corridor so my vague explanations were doing nothing to persuade them otherwise.
Ron's unexplained foul mood had lasted a few days, but the sight of me actively avoiding Cormac seemed to snap him out of whatever had been bothering him. Two years before, when I had first made the mistake of getting involved with Cormac, I found ignoring and avoiding to be a fairly effective tactic at dampening his interest. Cormac McLaggen was far too arrogant to actively chase a girl. He had far too high an opinion of himself to lower himself to that. The last time it had taken two whole days of ducking, diving and essentially hiding before he had given up and found a new target. Some fifth year who had been happy to fawn all over him, but this time my strategy didn't seem to be working.
It was Wednesday and it had been five whole days since the party and he still hadn't given up. Something that I was beginning to find wildly infuriating. Surely my lack of interest was a sure sign that I was in fact not interested, but I was beginning to think that he thought I was just playing hard to get. That he was actually enjoying the chase. Things weren't helped by the fact that Ginny didn't get why I was trying so hard to avoid him. In her words, he was tall, he was older, he was totally fit and I deserved to have some fun. Her brother wasn't helping matters either. Ron seemed to find the whole situation utterly hilarious. When he wasn't draped all over Lavender, his favourite past time seemed to making fun of me. For weeks Ron has barely even looked at me, never mind spoken to me, yet now that he was, I couldn't help but wish that he hadn't bothered.
We were sitting at our usual spot in the great hall, having dinner. I was already in a bad mood as I has spent the day avoiding Cormac and had the joy of my mid-week detention to look forward to. That was when Ron started up his latest hobby of Hermione baiting.
'What? No, crawling under tables tonight, Hermione,' Ron asked a little too gleefully, as him and Lavender sat down at the table opposite me during dinner. I wasn't sure what was bothering me more; his words, or the fact that he had his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him.
'Nope, not tonight, Ronald,' I said with a forced smile on my face, although the fact that it was said through gritted teeth, might have lessened the impact.
'What's in your pumpkin juice tonight then; bit of sherry? Nettle wine? Brandy? We all know how much you like your alcohol these days,' he said grinning, turning to Lavender who was openly giggling beside him, as if he we standing on stage doing a full blown comedy routine.
'No, actually, Ronald, it's firewhiskey today. I figured I needed something strong to get through another dinner with you.'
Either ignoring or completely missing my insult, Ron carried on undeterred. 'Look, Hermione, Cormac!' Ron said loudly, pointing over to the door. This unfortunately was another of the jokes that Ron found absolutely hysterical. The first time he had done, it, I had instinctively ducked in an attempt to hide, knocking over my pumpkin juice and spilling it all over myself, only to realise that he was joking when he was practically rolling around the floor with laughter. Not willing to fall for it again, I kept my eyes steadily on him, determined not to move them more than a millimetre from his face, steadily ignoring Lavender's face buried in his neck, hiding her laughter.
'Oh, come on, Hermione, you got to admit, it is funny,' Ron laughed.
I glared at him in response. 'No, Ronald, I really don't think that I do,' I replied through clenched teeth.
'Come on mate, give it a rest now,' Harry said, throwing me a pitying look. He had made a few jokes at first, but Harry had seen how much it had been bothering me and knew to stop, unlike the idiotic wizard sitting opposite me.
'What? It's not my fault that she's so uptight all of the time.' I flinched back as if he'd slapped me. 'You do realise that this may never happen again. I'm taking my opportunity whilst it's here.'
Lavender once again snorted in laughter and Ron turned to her, to share in the joke. The joke that was apparently me. I could feel my nose begin to prickle and I had to blink back the unbidden tears that suddenly filled my vision. Was that why he had ignored me all summer? Why he had chosen to move on with Lavender Brown of all people? Because he thought I was uptight? Yes, I knew I was a little more serious than others but it wasn't as if we'd had much time for parties and laughter in the last year.
'What is that supposed to mean?' I asked, my voice small and unsteady, betraying me emotions.
Harry looked incredibly uncomfortable, sensing my hurt but not knowing what to do about it.
'Come on, Hermione.' Ron continued, not sensing that anything was wrong. 'It's not every day that you get drunk and go around kissing random guys. Got to admit, it's good to know you're just like the rest of us.'
'I am nothing like you, Ronald.' Anger made my voice sound stronger that I felt. 'It took me having a lot to drink to make a fool of myself; you on the other hand seem to manage that just fine every day in life without the influence of alcohol,' I seethed at him, watching as his eyebrows shot up in surprise as seeing me losing control of my temper. 'And for your information,' I continued on a roll, 'I do not go around kissing random guys and when I do kiss someone it actually means something; unlike some people I could mention.'
Ron furrowed his brows at my last statement, seeming confused by my anger and the abrupt turn in the conversation. I realised that I had been shouting and at some point during my rant had stood up and slammed my hands down on the table. I also noticed that a few people around me had gone quiet and turned to stare, hoping that they would get to see another Hermione Granger floor show.
Feeling mortified, I grabbed my bag and fled from the hall, leaving a very confused Harry and Ron behind. I mentally berated myself. I really hadn't meant to bring up the kiss with Ron. In truth I was over him; I really didn't want to be with him, but he just kept hurting me. It hurt that he had moved on so quickly. That he could so brazenly flaunt a new relationship on front of me. It hurt that he clearly so little of our kiss. That he apparently thought so little of me.
I made my way to the library, arriving early, which made a change after arriving a shocking three minutes late the time before. I was sure however that Madame Pince wouldn't let me away early, but I decided to start the detention anyway. There was no point hanging around and waiting for Malfoy to arrive and I decided that I would rather be doing something to help and take my mind of the whole Ron/ Cormac saga.
I had been busy working for around fifteen minutes, when the sound of footsteps made me glance up and see Malfoy standing at the end of the aisle. He took one glance at my appearance when his eyes filled with the look of bewilderment which quickly turned into the usual sneer that I had seen shot in my direction many times before.
I would like to have said that his look was unwarranted, but I feared that it wasn't. Unfortunately in the fifteen minutes that I had been working, I had so far managed to make what could only be described as a complete and utter mess. I had miscalculated how many parchments I could carry at one time and had managed to drop all the pieces of parchment that had been neatly organised in alphabetical order. Malfoy had just happened to walk in at the exact moment that I was crawling about the floor, quill in my mouth, wand twisted in my hair to keep it out of my face, trying to pick up the disarrayed pieces of parchment and put them back into the right order.
I braced, waiting for the sarcastic and scathing comment that was sure to come. Some comment about me being in my rightful place at his feet. A comment about be scrabbling about on the floor where I belonged, but strangely, it never came. Instead he just lifted his wand and gave it a quick swish. Wincing, I closed my eyes and waited with baited breath for the curse or hex that I was sure he had just fired at me, but after a long pause filled with silence, I slowly opened them again to find that the pile of parchments were now stacked neatly on the floor in front of me.
I turned around to face Malfoy, who had gone over to the nearby table and put his bag down.
'Do you mind? I was doing that,' I said pointedly, more out of principle than actual annoyance.
'No, not really,' he shrugged. As I opened my mouth to argue, he cut me off. 'I would actually like to get this over with. I wasn't prepared to wait all night while you crawled about on your hands and knees like a common muggle.' His eyes flicked over me again, his lips twisted with that usual disapproving sneer I was so accustomed to.
'And what exactly is wrong the muggle way?' I asked, pulling myself to my feet. As he strutted past me without a word I found myself adding, 'Although I don't know why I'm bothering to ask you that. We all know what your opinion is of muggles. My voice combined with a derisive snort told him exactly what I thought of him.
His expression darkened and he took one menacing step towards me until he was looming over me. Instinctively, I scuttled backwards in return and he shook his head in disgust. 'Think whatever you like, Granger, but you know fuck all about me.' His eyes flicked to mine and the emotion slid from his face, reverting back to bored. 'Now, if you don't mind, I would rather get this over with. I don't want to spend any more time here than I have to.'
Feeling chastised, we reverted to silence and stayed that was for the remainder of the detention. Despite his completely cold and distant attitude, he worked just as hard.. It was a hard job to do by yourself, as I had so spectacularly proved earlier and I found I was glad for his help.
When we finished the final book on the list we were working on, I stood up slowly, stretching out my legs and arms. It felt good to finally stand up, after having to sit on the floor of the library for so long, which I'd had to do as the last books on the list were on the bottom shelf.
I made a move to start tidying up, when Malfoy surprised stopped me in my tracks. 'Go,' he said. 'I'll do it.'
I looked at him with suspicious eyes. Malfoy who lived with an army of house elves who I was sure catered to his every whim and who had never offered to help anyone else in his life was actually volunteering to do extra work. And not only that but he was actually volunteering to help me.
'You did it last time, Granger. Don't get used to it though. This is a one time offer.'
I lingered for a moment and thought about staying to help, but then again if Malfoy was actually volunteering to do work, who was I to stop him?
'Ok, then, well thanks,' I said picking up my bag and walking away. As I reached the end of the aisle, I turned back and watched Malfoy tidying up. I found myself shaking my head in bemusement, before I turned and walked out of the library.
Exhausted and desperate for nothing more than a bath and an early night, I made my way back to the Gryffindor common room. I was debating with myself which book I should read that night, when I noticed a figure standing at the end of the corridor. I looked up and my heart immediately jumped up into my throat and my whole body immediately stiffened as I realised who it was that was coming towards me - Cormac.
I ran through the options in my head; turn and go back to the library, I was only one corridor away and hope to lose him in there, or just keep walking and get the inevitable conversation over. Taking a deep, long breath I decided that I really did have to talk to him. The whole running away thing had been going on for far too long.
I gripped my bag tightly and tried to walk confidently towards him, although my legs felt like lead, feeling heavier with every step that I took. It seemed to take forever to reach him and when I spoke, I tried to keep my voice light and natural sounding.
'Em, hi, Cormac. How have you been?' I asked as if I was greeting a long lost acquaintance and not someone who I had been intimate with just a few nights before and had been running away from ever since.
'I'm fine,' he replied, not seeming to sense my awkwardness. 'Better now that you're here.'
I gave him a weak smile and made a move to walk past him. A move that was suddenly halted as he stepped in front of me.
I looked up at him questioningly. He was smiling, looking down at me, yet there was a look in his eyes that I couldn't quite place. A look that made me very aware of just how alone we were.
'So, Hermione,' Cormac continued, clearly oblivious how uncomfortable I was feeling, 'I was thinking that you and me should do something. How about the next Hogsmeade trip?' He reached out, trailing his hand down my arm. My stomach twisted and not in a good way. He leaned his head down and lowered his voice intimately, 'I'm thinking you, me and a quiet corner in Madame Pudifoots.'
Once again, I managed a tremulous smile, trying to keep the distaste from my face. Madame Pudifoot's was a notorious lover's haunt and a trip there tended to indicate only one intention. Although, I thankfully had a valid excuse for not going. for the first time, I was intensely grateful that I had been given detentions every Saturday, meaning that Hogsmeade would not be an option for a long time.
'Oh, I'm really sorry, Cormac,' I said, trying at least to sound somewhat apologetic, but finding it hard to keep the small trace of a smile off of my face, 'I have detention that day, so unfortunately I won't be able to go.
'Oh, that's a shame,' he said, looking actually quite crestfallen.
'Mmm,' I replied not quite agreeing, 'so I'll just be going then,' I managed to say, sensing my opportunity to leave and trying to move past him to get to the door, unfortunately he shifted in front of me once more, forcing me to look at him again.
'Well if Saturday's no good, then how about next Sunday? I'm sure we can find something to keep us entertained in the castle for a whole day,' he said, raising his eyebrows in a suggestive way.
I had a feeling I wasn't doing quite as well at keeping my face straight anymore. The horror at that prospect must have been clearly evident on my face.
'Em… I don't think I can, I have to, um, study that day,' I stuttered trying to find an excuse. 'I'll have loads of work to do that day since I'm missing the whole day on Saturday,' I said trying to back up my story and make it sound a little more believable and not just the pathetic excuse that I knew it really was. I knew that I should just talk to him. To put an end to this once and for all. To explain to him that I wasn't interested, but something about our whole conversation, standing alone in an empty corridor had me feeling distinctly uncomfortable. I would wait till tomorrow. For the cold light of day and people around. Wanting the conversation to be over, wanting to leave, I took a step around him again. 'Anyway, goodnight, Cormac. It's been a long day, so I'd better get back to the common room.'
I had barely taken a step past him when his hand caught my wrist and pulled me back so that I was once again facing him. 'Granger, stop walking away from me,' he said, a hint of anger edging into his voice. I looked up at him startled. Cormac was always charming. I had never seen him lose his temper before, ever, but I had seen it. That flare of darkness that flashed across his eyes. Although as quickly as it had came, it was gone, his cool and confident mask, his easy smile back in place, yet I could sense that darkness lingering, hiding in plain sight, just under the surface. Cormac took a step closer to me, and I instinctively took a step back. He raised one arm, placing his palm on the stone wall above me head. It was an innocent gesture, but one that had my heart give a flutter of unease. Why did I suddenly have the feeling that I was being herded- being boxed in.
I swallowed deeply, trying to steady my breathing. Trying not to let him see my panic. 'Look, Cormac. I'm sorry. Really I am. You're a really nice guy but I'm sorry, I'm just not looking for a relationship.
'Granger, I know how you feel about me,' he said, his voice low and purring, ignoring my last statement. He bent his arm at the elbow, stepping in closer to me. I tried to step back, but my back hit the wall behind me. 'That kiss meant something, I know it did.' He leant forward, his lips brushing against my ear. 'As much as the chase has been fun, I'm ready for the prize now.'
I felt his words, like ice trickling over my body. I put my hands up in front of me, like a protective shield. 'Cormac, please, you have to listen to what I'm saying. I'm really sorry for what happened and I like you, as a friend, but nothing more. I'm sorry but I was drunk when I kissed you and it was a mistake.' I forced myself to meet his gaze. Hoping that he could see the sincerity written there. 'I just don't feel that way about you.'
'You're lying,' he growled. 'I know you care about me. I heard what you said earlier.'
I blinked in confusion. 'What? What did I say?'
He reached up a hand and pushed my hair behind my ear and I had to force myself not to flinch.'In the great hall, at dinner. You said to Weasley that when you kiss someone, it means something.'
My eyes fluttered closed and I bit back a groan as my words came rushing back to me. I had said that. But then I hadn't been thinking of Cormac when I had uttered those words; I had been thinking of Ron.
'I've got to admit, Hermione; I was so relieved to hear you say that. I was beginning to think that you'd changed your mind about me, but when I heard you say that, I knew that I had to say something to you - that I was in with a shot.'
'Cormac, I'm sorry, but that, what I said, it wasn't about you.'
My words seem to register in his head, as he jerked his head back, his eyes boring into mine, as if he was to find the lie in my words. But what I hadn't counted on, what I hadn't foreseen, was just how he would interpret those words. I realised my mistake, the instant that darkness resurfaced in his eyes, spreading across his entire body in a mask of anger and rage.
'You've been seeing someone behind my back,' he seethed.
I had to fight with myself not to roll my eyes, but the conversation was beginning to veer into the realm of ridiculous. 'How could I be seeing someone behind your back when we aren't even going out?' I said a little too fiercely and instantly regretting it. Now was really not the time to be making him even madder.
'You were seeing someone else?' he said disbelievingly, ignoring my words. Incredulity was written all over his face. Of course, I should have realised. I should have put it together sooner. Cormac may have been a Gryffindor, but he wouldn't have been out of place in the Slytherin common room, being nearly as proud as even Draco Malfoy.
'No,' I said, trying to backtrack, not wanting to admit, that yes, I had been using him. Even if it wasn't for the reason that he thought.
'But you were using me?'
My eyes flashed to his in guilt, before I could stop them, but he saw it anyway.
'What, you just fancied a bit of cheering up then, trying to make yourself feel better, trying to make some other guy jealous?'
I immediately looked to the floor, unable to meet his eyes. I might not have realised it at the time but that was exactly what I had been doing. At that moment I just needed a bit of comfort, I needed to know that after Ron, someone would still want to be with me, I wanted to show Ron that even if he didn't want me, it didn't mean that no one else ever would. I might not have said the words, but apparently I didn't need to. My guilt was written all over my face.
'You were using me to make some other guy jealous,' he asked in a low, incredulous tone, his mind working, trying to put the pieces together. 'Who?' He bit out.
Once again I refused to answer, which only seemed to flare his anger even more.
'Tell me who,' he demanded again, stepping dangerously close to me once again. I flinched back against the wall. 'Potter? Finnegan? Thomas? Weasley?'
My eyes flitted to his face as he said Ron's name before I could think, before I could stop them.
'Weasley?' Cormac asked again, in a disbelieving voice. 'You would choose Weasley over me?'
Cormac pushed away from me and pulled his hands up to his head in frustration, messing up his usually perfect hair, which added with the angry eyes, only made him look even more crazed. As he started pacing up and down, muttering angrily to himself, I sensed an opportunity to escape and so I slowly started to edge along the wall moving closer towards the door. I had barely got a metre closer to the door before Cormac spotted me moving away, when he whipped out his wand and before I could even register what was happening I was pulled backwards and slammed hard into the wall behind me, my head whipping back to smack against the cold, hard stone.
Tears of pain filled my eyes and everything in front of me began spinning wildly. Before I could stop myself, my knees buckled and I was slid to the ground. I always wondered about people who had said that they had seen stars. But now I knew. For right in front of my eyes, all I could see were bright twinkling little lights, darting about in front of me. Part of me knew that they weren't real, but that didn't stop me from trying to reach out and grab them. But as soon as I reached out my hands, they were seized and gripped tight.
The hands around my wrists, pulled me to my feet and pushed me roughly against the wall. Blinking rapidly I forced my eyes to see straight, trying to steady my vision. When my eyesight finally settled and the twinkly lights had finally disappeared, I realised that Cormac had both of my wrists in a tight grip, my hands held up level with my head, his body learning into mine, holding me upright. Up close I could see the brown of his eyes had disappeared completely, overtaken with the blackness of rage.
Needing to be free, I squirmed against his hold, but he was immovable. Holding me firmly in place. I was completely powerless. I could feel my wand sticking out of my back pocket, digging painfully into my back, completely out of my reach. No matter how much I wriggled or fought Cormac's grip, he was bigger and stronger than me and I couldn't get free. Every bit of me, every instinct I had told me to fight and claw and scratch at him, until he let me go, but looking at the rage in his eyes, I knew that it wasn't going to help. The only thing that it would succeed in doing is to make him even more furious. If that was even possible. Realising that I wouldn't be able to fight him physically, I decided to try a different tactic.
'Cormac, please let me go. You're hurting me,' I said, looking him straight in the eye, the hurt and pleading filling my voice. I really hoped that it might be enough to bring him back to his senses.
'What? And let you go running back to Weasley?' His voice with low, rumbling with anger. 'You have made a fool of me. What will everyone say? You have humiliated me. Nobody gets to use me and then walk away.' His grip tightened around my wrists, causing me to whimper again in pain. 'You are not leaving me. You care about me Hermione. I know it. I just have to make you see it.'
I barely had time to register what he had he had said, before he closed the minute space between us, pressing his body even deeper into mine and his lips started their descent.
I felt the heat and moisture of his breath on my cheek as I turned my head desperately away from him, begging him to stop. He let go of one hand around my wrist which I immediately used to try and push against him. I may as well have been trying to push stone. His hand roughly grabbed my chin, forcing me to turn around and face him and grinding my already pained head against the rough stones of the wall behind me. As as winced in pain, he brought his head once again down to mine, his lips traced over my skin stopping when he reached my ear, whispering in a voice that made my blood run cold, 'I will have you, Granger. One way or the other.'
He let go of my other hand and I immediately used it to join my other one in trying to push him off, stilling in shock when he used his hand to snake down my side, clutching at the material of my skirt. Feeling the fear claw its way up my throat I gripped his wrist, trying desperately to pull his hand away, but his hand continued to trail it's way up my inner thigh.
'No, Cormac don't. Please,' I begged, feeling the first tear roll down my cheek.
'Come on, you know you like it. Don't try telling me this isn't what you wanted.'
As I opened my mouth to reply, he swooped down, bringing his lips to mine and forcing his tongue inside my mouth at the same time his other hand reached down the front of my open shirt, roughly grabbing my breast. I could feel the hardness of him, pressed against my stomach.
It was that feeling, that brought me out of my stupor. The knowledge of what he was going to do to me that made me scream out 'No!' That made me fight and claw and push against him with everything I had. I managed to put my hands to his shoulders, simultaneously biting down on his tongue and pushing him away with everything I had.
For a brief moment, I thought that I had actually managed to move him, as he suddenly moved away from me, although it took only a moment longer to realise that he hadn't moved away from me at all, he was pulled away.
With Cormac no longer pressed up against me, holding me up, my legs buckled beneath me and I sank down to the floor.
A sudden grunt of pain quickly alerted me to the fact that there was a fight going on right in front of my eyes. Cormac was currently on the floor, crying out in pain as a shiny black shoe was thrust into his chest. An Italian, elf made shiny black shoe that I knew all too well. A shoe belonging to Draco Malfoy.
It was strange, that after what had just happened, but I felt strangely numb. I watched almost apathetic to the fight in front me. Watching the splatter of blood, the quick movements, listening to the pained grunts and the sound of fists connecting with flesh; all as if I was watching a mildly interesting play put on specially for me. Draco Malfoy, looked quite terrifying, I thought. I already knew what he was capable of, yet seeing the raw physical power that he possessed, made him seem even more terrifying. Although, strangely, I found that I wasn't afraid. Wasn't that bizarre? Maybe I had a concussion. That would explain it.
Another pained grunt, followed by a strange crack; a broken nose I thought, made me focus on the fight happening before my eyes. Although, I wasn't sure that the definition of a fight was entirely accurate. Could it be a fight if only person was fighting? Maybe a beating was more accurate, as Cormac seemed incapable of hitting Malfoy, either with his fists or his wand. I watched Malfoy relentlessly cursing and hitting Cormac and I realised that he had no intention of stopping anytime soon. It wasn't that I was feeling pity for Cormac. It wasn't that I didn't think that he got what he deserved. It was more that I was sitting on the floor with a splitting headache and I wanted to leave, although I wasn't entirely sure that my legs wouldn't buckle beneath me when I tried.
Ignoring the fact that my skull felt like it was cracked down the middle, I forced myself to my feet, albeit shakily. Clinging to the wall for support, I pulled my wand out from my back pocket and cast a barrier between the two wizards, ending the fight.
'Malfoy, stop, that's enough,' I managed to say, my voice stronger than I thought it would be.
He gave me a look that clearly said he thought that I was crazy. 'Are you kidding, Granger? That bastard got what he deserved.'
'That may be true, but he's down and I think you've more than made your point,' I said, letting down my shield.
Cormac seemed to have recovered slightly as he started to moan on the floor. 'What the fuck, Malfoy. What the hell was that for?' Cormac questioned, glaring at Malfoy, his hand pressing his nose gingerly.
'Fuck sake, McLaggen, perhaps this is too complex for even your limited IQ so I'll use small words so you can keep up. When a girl says no, you don't fucking force yourself on her.'
'I wasn't doing anything that she didn't ask for. She's been gagging for it all week,' he said, slowly pulling himself up from the floor.
At that I saw red and the sound of my hand striking across his face echoed throughout the hall and I took an immense amount of pleasure in seeing his head fly to the side with a bright red handprint appearing on his face.
'How dare you! How can you think that I've been interested in you? I've been trying to avoid you all week you arrogant arsehole. I was just trying to be nice; I was trying to let you down gently. I was trying not to hurt your feelings,' I screamed, my angry tears beginning to make their way down my face again.
Despite the bruised and swollen eye, bloody and broken nose and bright red handprint on his cheek, Cormac had regained some of his composure as his bloodied lip twisted as he looked at me furiously and took a step towards me, his hand outstretched. Malfoy quickly stepped forward blocking his movement, placing himself between us.
'Yeah, well that worked out well,' he spat, pointing to the blood pouring down his face. 'You know what; you're not even worth it. No shag is worth this amount of agro.'
His words echoed in the silence of the hall and as they sank into my brain, I felt my entire body tense up with complete and utter fury. I gripped my wand tightly and was just about to raise it to make sure that McLaggen would never be able to have kids again, but Malfoy got there first.
I watched in amazement as Malfoy, swung his fist straight into Cormac's face sending him flying against the wall. He slumped down the wall in quite a comical way that would have made me laugh if my mouth hadn't been hanging wide open in shock. Malfoy took a step forward, grabbed him by the collar to drag him back up and pushed him towards the door in front of us.
'Get out of here, now,' he almost growled, 'before I really lose my temper.'
Cormac eyed Malfoy, sizing him up but seemed to realise that there was no way that he could win and so started to retreat, crawling backward before he scrambled to his feet.
'Oh and McLaggen,' he called out to Cormac's retreating back, 'if you ever touch her, hurt her or so much as even look in her direction again, you can be damned sure that I will make it impossible for you to touch another woman again for as long as you live. Even if they do happen to be willing. Now, you have to the count of three to get your sorry arse out of here. One,' he said raising his wand threateningly.
It turned out that it only took to the count of one, before Cormac turned and fled out of the corridor.
Malfoy stood in front of me still completely tense, keeping his eyes on the door that Cormac had just left by. His shoulders were rapidly rising and falling and I found that I couldn't keep my eyes off of him as my legs buckled beneath me and for the second time I fell to floor.
The sound of me sliding to the floor obviously shook Malfoy out of whatever trance he was in. He turned around, his expression still full of fury which turned wary when they met my curious gaze. He bent slowly down, crouching down to face me and I held my breath with the shock of his closeness. After what Cormac had just done, I was wary. He reached out his hand and put it to the back of my aching head and touched it very gently. I was completely frozen; I wasn't even sure that I was breathing anymore. Malfoy had never touched me before.
He pulled his hand back and let out a low throaty growl as he examined his fingers. I realised that they had blood on them. My blood. My muggle blood. The blood that he thought was filthy. He didn't even flinch.
Malfoy pulled out his wand and I edged away from him, suddenly very afraid. The stony look on his face slipped for only a split second before quickly reappearing, making me wonder if I had actually imagined it.
'I'm not going to hurt you,' he said gently, 'This needs to be healed.'
As he spoke, I couldn't help but look up to his face examining him with curiosity, wondering who the person in front of me really was, because the Draco Malfoy that I had known for seven years had never once been kind or gentle, especially not to me. I found myself staring into his eyes, taking a sharp gasp of breath as I did. His eyes were beautiful. They had always seemed so cold and unfeeling, a steely, hard, flat grey. But now up close I realised just how wrong I had been. They were a mixture of bright silver ringed in a soft grey. But what surprised me was the small flecks of the palest blue, like the sky on a cold winters day. I was surprised that there were also small flecks of green dancing about in the light. How could one pair of eyes contain so many colours? They were mesmerising.
Realising that I was staring at him and hadn't actually answered his question, I felt myself flush pink I gave him a quick nod of agreement and turned around so that the back of my head was facing him. I closed my eyes as I felt a warmth spread through the back of my head and the pain subsided. Turning back around to look at Malfoy I saw that he had stood up straight again, towering over me. I felt so small sitting curled up on the floor at his feet.
He opened his mouth to speak, but a noise behind us made us both jump and turn. I thought for one horrible moment that Cormac had come back, but I let out a sigh of relief when I noticed that it was only Harry. However my relief was short lived when he raised his wand and in a flash of red light, Malfoy was thrown backward and slammed into the wall opposite from me. He groaned in pain and looked around confusedly for his wand. When he realised it was now tucked tightly in Harry's hand, he stood up quickly, swaying ever so slightly and took not even half a step towards Harry, before he was thrown back once again, slumping to the floor, lying unmoving with closed eyes.
Satisfied that Malfoy wasn't going to move, Harry finally rushed over to me, crouching down beside me, a worried look on his face. 'Hermione, what the hell happened? Did Malfoy do this?' he asked, pointing to the blood that was still in my hair.
'Harry, what have you done?' I tried to push past him to check on Malfoy but he gently pushed me back to the floor.
'Nowhere near as much as he deserves,' Harry fumed. 'He's bloody lucky I didn't kill him.'
'No, Harry it wasn't him. Honestly, it wasn't Malfoy,' I said more forcefully when he gave me a doubting look.
'Then what the hell happened? And don't tell me it's nothing, Hermione,' he said, seeing me open my mouth, 'Why are you crying; why is your head bleeding and why the hell was Malfoy standing over you holding his wand?'
I had to admit, it probably did look bad, but for some reason I was desperate for Harry to know that it wasn't Malfoy.
'Harry, promise me you won't freak out,' I asked, looking him in the eye, worried that he would go on the rampage and curse McLaggen into oblivion.
'Fine, now tell me.'
'No, Harry, promise me,' I urged, needing him to say the words.
He narrowed his eyes, flicking them in Malfoy's direction before returning them to me. 'Fine, I promise,' he said resignedly, 'now tell me, what happened?'
'Ok,' I said sighing. I focused on the wall opposite, knowing that if I looked Harry in the eye then I wouldn't be able to say it.
'Earlier tonight I left detention and I was walking back and well, you know how Cormac's been trying to find me all week, well he found me.' I paused, hearing Harry take a sharp intake of breath.
'He was waiting here for me and he, well, he…'
'He tried to force you,' Harry said, through gritted teeth.
I could only nod my head, not wanting to say the words. Harry put his arms tightly around me, pulling me into his chest and began gently stroking my hair, as I sobbed into his shoulder.
After a moment, Harry suddenly lifted his head. 'So where does he come into all of this.' He nodded towards Malfoy, who was beginning to come around.
'He…' I hesitated, finding myself unable to say the words.
'He what,' said Harry more forcefully, looking me straight in the eyes.
'He helped me,' I said eventually.
'He helped you,' Harry said slowly, clearly not believing me, 'How?'
'He pulled Cormac off of me and then quite spectacularly beat the crap out of him.'
'Are you serious?' Harry said in a disbelieving voice. 'Well, at least that saves me from doing it.'
Malfoy started to groan again and began stirring. 'Harry, I'm honestly fine. You should go back to the common room.'
'No way, Hermione, I'm not leaving you here,' Harry said forcefully, standing up.
'No, please, Harry, you promised to do what I asked. Besides neither of us,' I motioned over his shoulder to Malfoy, 'can afford to get into any more trouble, least of all me. Please just let me smooth everything over with Malfoy and I'll meet you back in the common room soon.'
Harry seemed to think over my words, but seemed to reluctantly agree with me that it made sense and so he pulled me to my feet, before he reluctantly left.
'You have five minutes, Hermione, before I come back,' Harry warned before handing me back Malfoy's wand and disappearing through the door.
I stood for a minute, completely unsure what to do. Part of me wanted to run away and never come back to this corridor again, but the other part knew that I couldn't leave Malfoy alone and hurt in the corridor, especially after he had just saved me. That would have been wrong. And besides, I was a Gryffindor. It wasn't in my nature to be a coward.
I moved over to the stirring body on the floor and gently shook his shoulder, jumping back when his eyes shot open and he sat bolt upright.
'Are you ok?' I asked, regretting the question as soon as it was out of my lips.
Obviously he wasn't alright. His nose was bleeding and he had blood on the back of his head similar to mine.
He seemed to agree with me that the question was stupid, as he gave me a pointed look before saying, 'What does it look like, Granger? Thought you were meant to be smart.'
I shot daggers at him and readied my response before I remembered that I was actually incredibly grateful to the beat up wizard sitting in front of me. I passed him back his wand which he took with a nod. We sat in silence for another moment, sitting side by side against the cool stone wall.
'Thank you, by the way. For, you know,' I said quickly, avoiding his look.
'Don't mention it.' He wiped his hand across his face, pulling it back to examine the red staining his white skin. 'Although I won't bother next time if this is what happens when you try to do something good.'
My stomach twisted uncomfortably at his words and we sat in an awkward silence for a long moment. 'I'm really sorry about Harry. But honestly, thank you. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't come along when you did.'
He just gave a small nod and raised his one eyebrow, his frown never leaving his face.
'Who would have thought it? Me saying thank you to you and you saving me.'
'Yeah I would never have believed it either,' he said, a strange look passing over his face as we fell into another awkward silence. I did my best not to look at him, feeling very uncomfortable all of a sudden, but couldn't help it when my gaze shifted slightly in his direction and caught sight of his bloodied hand. Bloodied from beating Cormac no doubt.
'Oh you're bleeding,' I exclaimed, again wincing at my obvious comment. 'Do you want me to heal it?' I asked unsure if he would want me to help him.
He just shrugged his shoulders and held out his hand, his gaze following my wand moving across his hand, face and head as it healed all of his wounds.
'Thanks,' he said, examining the back of his, no doubt checking I hadn't left any scars.
'No, problem,' I said lightly, feeling slightly glad that he was the one thanking me for once. 'But you know you wouldn't have got those cuts on your hand and face if you had used your wand. I thought you were against the muggle way of doing things,' I asked, remembering his comment to me earlier in the library.
'Yeah well, sometimes the muggle way is better,' he said deadly serious.
'Oh my god, I said slowly. 'Did the 'oh so wonderful' pure- blood Draco Malfoy, just admit that the muggle way is better than the wizards way?' I asked half teasingly, half astonished at the words that had just came out of his mouth.
'When it comes to beating someone to a pulp, the muggle way is just more satisfying. But that's the only thing that's better,' he said giving me a pointed look.
'Yeah, but still,' I said, not quite ready to let the moment pass. 'I never thought I'd see the day.'
'Yeah, well, like I said earlier, you really don't know me, Granger,' he said finally turning to look me straight in the eye, unleashing the full power of his stare.
I swallowed deeply, at the close proximity of his face. I was suddenly finding it difficult to breath, unable to tear my gaze away.
'No, I don't suppose that I do,' I said almost in a whisper.
His gaze stayed firmly on my face, his eyes flicking briefly down to my lips. His brows knitted together as if he was confused. I couldn't say who moved for first. Whether he leaned towards me, I leaned towards him or we both leaned towards each other I honestly didn't know, but we were so close that I knew if I moved my head forward the merest inch, then our lips would be touching.
When his face was close enough for me to feel his warm breath against my skin, my own breath suddenly hitched and in that moment, I abruptly came to my senses. This was Malfoy. Draco Malfoy! What the hell was I doing? Without a word I abruptly pulled back from him, ignoring his shocked expression as I pushed myself to my feet, before I span round and practically ran down the corridor towards the door.
I had just pulled the door open, when a loud noise behind me made me turn around just in time to see Malfoy punch the stone wall, his pained cry echoing throughout the long corridor. I quickly closed the door behind me and ran the entire way back to the common room, barely aware of where I was going as many confusing thoughts and a pair of intense grey eyes swam around my head.