Stolen Innocence

Chapter Twenty

It was close to dinner before Hermione had stopped crying. Draco had sat with her the whole time, holding her and rocking her, silently cursing Potter for being such a prat. Eventually, her tears turned to dry sobs as she clutched Draco's chest. She had curled herself up into a ball in Draco's lap, but he didn't mind. What was important to him was that she had someone there for her.

To say that Draco was surprised at Potter's reaction was an understatement. He'd always believed that the Golden Trio would stick together until the end and be there for each other in their times of need. Afterall, Hermione had been there for him, she'd helped the boy through the many obstacles guarding the Philosopher's stone, she'd stayed up many hours of the night helping the git study for his exams, and she'd even fought against Death Eaters for him. But at the time when she needed him most, Potter bailed on her because he was too stubborn to believe that his sick best mate could do such terrible things to her.

It angered Draco so much that not just one, but both of Hermione's supposed best friends could cause her so much pain. And as he sat there on the couch, holding the girl as she cried, his hate for the two Gryffindors grew. He silently vowed to himself to make them pay for every bit of hurt they'd caused her, making it his responsibility to right their wrongs. But currently, all that mattered was that the crying girl in his arms was consoled.

After a while, Hermione just kind of passed out, exhausted from so much emotion. Draco soundlessly picked her up bridal style and carried her up to his room. He placed her sleeping form on his bed and placed a lingering kiss on her forehead before leaving her to rest.

Draco made his way quickly down to the kitchens, trying his best not to be seen. Lessons were still going on and he didn't want to be caught skiving them off. He knew Hermione would be famished after she woke, so he wanted to be sure that there would be food waiting for her. She was in no condition to attend dinner in the Great Hall that day.

Draco pushed open the portrait which was entrance to the kitchens. The smell of dinner cooking invaded his nose. The house elves took little notice of him, busying themselves preparing dinner for the many students. One elf sat alone in a corner, a bottle of what appeared to be butterbeer beside her, hiccoughing and crying to herself. He ignored the sad little elf, having never really cared much for the creatures. He'd always had little respect for things that took orders from others like common slaves, so he walked passed the thing, making his way to a particularly cheerful elf who seemed to be wearing nothing but socks.

When Draco was close, the small elf turned around, glaring at the blonde before him.

"Hello Dobby." Draco greeted the creature, trying to keep the distate from his tone.

"What is you doing back again, Mr. Malfoy?" Dobby asked with a hint of annoyance. The elf still held a grudge against him for when he'd been his family's servant.

"I need to get some food, Hermione and I won't be attending dinner tonight." Draco told him.

"You should not be here, no you shouldn't. Is against school rules, it is." Dobby said, wringing his sock covered hands.

"Come on, Dobby. Hermione isn't feeling too well and can't make it to dinner tonight." Dobby's eyes seemed to light up at Hermione's name as if he hadn't heard him say it before.

"Master Harry's friend isn't well?" He asked in a concerned tone.

"No, she's not." Draco replied, becoming slightly impatient.

"She is being a very nice lady, that one," Dobby commented as if to himself. "I be getting you some food, even though I shouldn't be doing it, no I shouldn't." The elf then scurried off to retrieve some food while Draco waited, tapping his foot. When the elf returned with a large covered dish, Draco took it, thanking him through gritted teeth before hurrying back to the Heads' Quarters where Hermione was still sleeping.

Draco transfigured the lid of the dish into a smaller plate, placing some of the food onto it before placing the larger plate on his bedside table beside Hermione for when she awoke. He then took his smaller plate and made his way back into the common room so he wouldn't disturb the sleeping girl.

Draco sat on the couch, eating his dinner and staring blankly into the unlit fireplace. He wasn't really very hungry, but he'd always been taught that it was unbecoming to skip meals, so he ate as much as he could, waiting for when Hermione would awake.

The hours went by and Hermione didn't rise once. Draco was begining to feel slightly worried and was just about to check on her when he heard a loud, high pitched scream coming from his bedroom. He felt his hand burn, a signal from the charmed locket that Hermione was in danger.

Draco quickly ran up the stairs, three at a time. He threw open his bedroom door, wand pointed in front of him. He turned on the lights and looked around the room, but even though there were still screams, no one else seemed to be in the room.

Only Hermione was there, sitting straight up in Draco's bed. Her body was rigid and her mouth was hanging open, emitting loud screams. But, upon taking a few steps towards her for a closer inspection, he notice that her eyes, while open, were clouded over and unfocused, looking in all directions. Draco ran over to Hermione, sitting himself on the edge of his bed. He cautiously put an arm around her middle, but she showed no signs of noticing and just kept on screaming.

"Hermione?" Draco asked, not quite sure what to do. He'd never in his life see anyone in a state such as this. She was clearly asleep judging by her eyes, but yet she was screaming.

"Hermione? Can you hear me?" He said, this time a little louder and accompanied with a slight shake. Still no reaction.

"'Mione, please wake up." Draco began to get worried. Obviously she was having some sort of nightmare, but even the worst nightmare could be interupted when someone was shaking you.

"No, please." Hermione screamed, her voice hoarse, causing Draco's arm to leave her waist in alarm.

"Please, no, it hurts!" She screamed again.

"Hermione, wake up," Draco said desperately, taking her face in his hands. "It's only a dream, just wake up."

Tears were streaming down Hermione's face as her hysterical screams continued.

"No, it hurts! Please!" Hermione then began to kick her legs and flail her arms, hitting Draco in the chest weakly.

"Hermione, you have to wake up." Draco pleaded, using the weight of his body to stop her from hitting him again. His heart hurt to see Hermione like this, not knowing what he could do to help her.

"It hurts! It hurts!" Hermione screamed out, louder this time. "No, stop it!"

"Hermione," Draco said firmly, looking into her eyes. "You have to listen to me, it's only a dream. Just please, wake up!"

Suddenly, she stopped trying to fight him off and her screams lowered to a barely audible whisper. Her eyes closed and then fluttered open again and she gave Draco a puzzling look as he felt relief wash over him.

"Wh-what happened?" She asked in a low voice, her face now stained with tears.

"You were screaming in your sleep." Draco told her.

"I was?"

"Yes, I tried to wake you but it wouldn't work," He said, wiping away her tears with his thumbs. "What were you dreaming about that scared you so much?"

"I can't remember." Hermione replied after a moment, bowing her head in shame. Out of nowhere, she burst into tears again, sobbing loudly. Draco wrapped her arms around her and pulled her body against his so she was sobbing into his chest.

"I'm such a mess, Draco." She cried, her body shaking as Draco held her, becoming accustomed to such intimacy.

"Shh, no you're not." Draco told her, his heart sinking at her pain and misery.

"But I am!" Hermione argued. "Just look at me! I made my best friend hate me and now I can't even have any peace when I sleep! I'm causing you nothing but trouble, you should be enjoying your final year, not spending it looking after someone as pathetic as me."

"You're not pathetic," Draco told her, pulling away to look her in the eye. "You are an intelligent, beautiful girl who has everything going for her. You're just having a rough time. Things will get better."

"How would you know?" Hermione asked through her tears.

"Because, they just have to." He said.

"Yeah, right." She replied sarcastically.

"Listen to me," Draco took her face in his hands again, his silver eyes looking deep into her brown ones. "I promise you, things will get better. I'll make sure of it."

Slowly Hermione nodded her head, and her tears lessend. Draco pulled her into a tight embrace, feeling her curves against his body.

The two stayed like that for a while, just holding each other, as if that would make everything alright. They knew it wouldn't, but it was comforting to hold each other and pretend like they were the only two in the whole world.

After a while, both were so emotionally drained that they laid down in Draco's bed wordlessly. Draco wrapped her arms around Hermione, holding her close to his body and inhaling her scent from behind. It was nothing sexual, though both wouldn't have minded if it had been. It was just comforting and soon the two fell into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

To Be Continued...

Ok, so I am so so sorry that this update took so long. I've just had so much going on with my boyfriend and all this drama and now exams next week so I've been really stressed && had no time to do anything. But, lucky for all of you, I made time today so you get a new chapter. I know it's not too long, but I currently am nursing a migraine && I just needed to post something so youu don't think I've forgotten about this story because I have every intention of finishing this story, so no matter how long it takes me to update, know that I always will. Anyways, thnxx goes out to:

-Mrs Gallagher, yeah, I kinda stole that a little bit from your story, hope youu don't mind. But I couldn't think of any other way to show Hermione becoming attracted to Draco physically, so thank youu for that.

-sinbad, I'm glad youu like it && no I didn't know that April was domestic violence month. Thanks for that bit of info.

-Anon, I can't answer that so I'll just leave you to the guessing, but that question will be answered in either the next chapter or the one after that.

-angelnomiko, here's your update, sorry it took so long.

-Sara, why thank youu, happy to hear youu like it.

-catysmom, well, here's your update.

-Britt, both very logical answers, but you'll havta read the next few chapters to find out.

-Lilium, yeah I was hoping others would see that point of view. I'm happy to hear youu check up on my stories, it makes me feel good to know at least one person didn't forget about me.

-sticky, thnxx for understanding, I agree, updating is not a top priority for me.

-Anon, you're gonna havta keep reading to find that out.

-Miss.Dee, glad youu liked it.

-Pickles87, well thank youu for calling my story spectacular ^-^

-Mina, I didn't even know youu wrote on here ! I dunno if I can update Late Night Escapades soon, I think we should get intoxicated again together && write a chapter, just like when we started that story. I agree, we should hang out again sometime soon though.

-Amortentia Sin, why thank youu very much. I'm happy to hear youu not only like my story, but that it's convincing as well. Sorry it took so long to update.

-luvhp, well, honestly, I was a little weary about writing this fic because Ron is pretty much my favourite chracter, but, it made the most sense to have him abusive because with his short temper && him being a hot head, it only made sense that add that to drinking, he'd be abusive. I mean to offense to him in any way because I do love him. && about writing your story, just take a chance && write it. People on here are actually pretty nice so I'm sure they'll like it. && if not, that's ok too.

-Dex, so sorryy it took so long !

Ok, so there, I thanked everyone that reviewed. So, I'm not too sure when the next time I'll be able to update is because with summer coming up I'm going away probably 10 times starting this weekend. But, I think I'll have enough spare time to update at least once a month && I definately don't want to make you all wait so long again. So please, read and review, it makes me feel loved !

Much Love...

XXX

Xx-.k.a.y.y.-xX