Stolen Innocence

Chapter Twenty-Two

Draco awoke late the next day with a stiff feeling between his legs. Feeling another sleeping form beside him, he opened his eyes to find Hermione laying on her side, facing the wall opposite her. His arms were wrapped protectively around her waist for a reason unknown to him. He careful pulled his arm out from under her and soundlessly got out of bed.

Draco tip toed out of the room as quietly at he could so as to not wake the sleeping girl. He then made his way to the bathroom for a much needed cold shower to kill off his morning erection.

Hermione awoke to the sounds of the shower turning off. Stretching, she opened her eyes, looking around Draco's room. The room was rather plain, the walls painted a dark green, the sheets and blankets of the bed matching them. He had a large black wardrobe on one side, his bookbag thrown beside it. On the opposite side, a small silver bookcase stood, looking rather empty with only five books in it.

Whereas Hermione's room was piled with books and pictures of her friends and family, Draco's room showed no sign of any comforting things from home. She felt her heart go out to him, from what she'd heard about his home life, it was no wonder there were no reminders of it at Hogwarts.

Draco walked back into his room, wearing nothing but a towel, as usual. Hermione felt her cheeks redden and an odd sensation in the pit of her stomache as she tried not to stare at his perfect upper body. The water glistened off his chest and ab muscles, and he wore an arrogant smirk on his face, as if he knew how hard she was trying not to look at him.

"So, how was your sleep?" Draco asked as he searched for clothes to wear.

"It was amazing, surprisingly." She replied, busying herself by adjusting the tank top she wore to bed.

"What do you mean 'surprisingly'?" He asked, turning around to look at her. "I told you it would stop those night terror things, and it did."

"Well excuse me for not believing you." She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You know, you really should learn to trust me." Draco told her, grabbing his clothes and heading back to the bathroom. When he returned he was completely dressed in a long sleeve green shirt and black dress pants.

"And you should really learn to dress casually for once." Hermione shot back at him, now being able to look at him.

"Hey, this is casual!" He replied, holding out his arms and turning all the way around so she got a nice look at his rear.

"Why don't you ever just wear jeans?" Hermione asked as Draco made a face at the mention of muggle clothes. "You make me feel so under dressed, even for weekends!"

"There's nothing wrong with looking your best. Some people appreciate it." He said, sticking his nose up in the air like a snob. Hermione burst out laughing at this impression, causing Draco to give her a smile.

"You know," Hermione started in a thoughtful voice. "You should smile more often, it gets so tired seeing nothing but a sneer or a smirk on your face."

"Really?" Draco asked, a boyish look on his pale face as he came closer to her. "So, you think I look good when I smile?"

"That's not what I meant!" Hermione exclaimed, throwing a pillow at his face, which he caught.

"Oh, I think that's exactly what you meant." Draco told her, smirking. He brought his face closer to her's, their lips milimeters away from each other's. She could feel his hot breath on her face as her stomache did a flip flop. Her mind had stopped working as she felt her cheeks burn. Just as he was about to kiss her, she came to her senses and jumped backwards, causing her to fall over the other side of the bed.

"Hermione, are you okay?" Draco asked, pearing over the side of the bed. Hermione rubbed the back of her head and stood up slowly.

"Yeah, I'm okay," She told him. "I'm gonna go have my shower now." And with that she walked out of the room, leaving Draco feeling both aroused and confused.

*

Hermione and Draco walked into the Great Hall together, oblivious to the stares and comments made as they seated themselves at their respected tables. Hermione piled some toast onto her plate, not feeling all that hungry. Just as she was buttering her toast, Lavender Brown came and sat down beside her.

"Hey Hermione." Lavender greeted her in a cheery voice which hurt Hermione's ears.

"Hi Lavender." She replied, her eyes never leaving her toast as if buttering it took great skill and concentration. Lavender sat there, watching Hermione for a while. After a few minutes, the Head Girl got annoyed and turned to look at her house mate.

"Would you like something?" Hermione asked, not hiding her annoyance and distaste. Lavender's eyes seemed to light up as if she'd been waiting for her to ask.

"Well, now that you mention it, there is something I'd like to know." She told her. Hermioned rolled her eyes, wishing she would just go away and leave her be.

"And what would that be?" Hermione asked, tapping her fingers on the long table as if she was in a hurry.

"Well I just wanted to know," Lavender said in a loud whisper, coming closer to Hermione's ear. "How is he?"

"How is who?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Oh, Hermione, don't be shy. I've been around the block a few times if you know what I mean," The other girl replied with a wink. "You can tell me."

"Tell you what?" Hermione asked, drawing a complete blank as to what Lavender was getting at.

"Tell me just how amazing Malfoy is in bed." Lavender said with a big smile. Hermione dropped her knife and stared at Lavender, his eyes wide. She looked around the table and noticed most of the Gryffindors were listening as well.

"Dr-Draco and I-we don't-" She stuttered, not able to put a whole sentence together.

"Come on Hermione," Romilda Vane cut in, Hermione having not noticed she was listening the whole time. "We've all seen how you two are acting with each other, walking to classes together, eye fucking each other at meals, we all know you're shagging." A number of others nodded their heads in agreement. Hermione was blushing more then she ever had in her life. Her and Draco? They had to be joking.

"You can't keep this to yourself so you might as well tell us." Lavender told her.

"But, we don't-"

"Don't play innocent," Romilda interupted. "You can't tell us you sleep in the same Quaters with the Slytherin Prince himself and you two haven't shagged."

"Honestly, we haven't!" Hermione told them in a high pitched voice, not believing her ears.

Back at the Slytherin Table, Draco was enjoying his bacon and eggs when Blaise sat down beside him.

"Hungry there, mate?" Blaise asked, giving Draco a slap on the back.

"A little." Draco replied, more interested in finishing his breakfast then conversing with his best friend.

"Yeah, a night of rough sex does that to me too." Blaise commented, causing Draco to nearly choke on his pumpkin juice.

"W-what?" He asked, sure he hadn't heard his house mate correctly.

"I'm your best mate, you don't have to hide you and Granger's love affair from me," Blaise told him, a large smile on his face. "How is she anyway? I bet she's a veela in the bedroom, all that spunk and that fiery temper of hers. I just wish I knew what was hidden under those baggy school robes."

Draco felt his anger bubble as his friend openly looked over at the Gryffindor table where Hermione was talking to Lavender Brown and Romilda Vane. Blaise's eyes swept up the length of Hermione, paying particular attention to her chest.

"Damn I bet she's hot under there!" Blaise said. That's when Draco lost it. He threw down his fork and stood, grabbing his friend by the collar, their faces inches apart.

"Don't you ever fucking talk about her like that, unless you want to endure a slow and painful death, Zabini." Draco threatened the smaller boy, amused by the fear in the darker boy's eyes.

"Hey, sorry, it's just it always works like that!" Blaise told him, throwing up his hands in surrender. By now all eyes were on the two, Hermione holding her breath as she guessed the reasoning behind this scene.

"Works like what?" Draco asked in a low growl, aware that every eye was now on him.

"Well, you have your fun with them and then I get what's left over. It's always been like that mate, so let me know when you're done with her and I'll-" Blaise was cut off by Draco's hand closing around his throat. A few teacher's from the Head's table stood and McGonagall hurried her way over to the two.

"Put him down at once, Mr. Malfoy!" She shouted at the blonde. Draco released his grip on Blaise's throat, dropping him to the ground.

"You better watch what you say, Zabini, you of all people know that I'm not one to fuck with!" And with that, McGongall grabbed Draco by the elbow and led him out of the hall, everyone's eyes following the two out.

Romilda and Lavender gave Hermione a look, then she threw her piece of toast back onto her plate and stormed out of the hall, people's whispers following her all the way out.

*

"I wonder what that was all about." Harry said, turning to Ron who was stuffing his face and looking very happy.

"You mean you haven't figured it out, Harry?" Ron asked through a mouth full of eggs.

"Figured what out?" He asked his best friend with a confused look on his face.

"It's going all around the school," Ron told him as he swallowed his food. "Hermione and Malfoy are shagging."

"WHAT!?!" Harry half shouted, causing many people to look in his direction.

"Well it's obvious, isn't it? I mean just look how they're acting around each other."

"All I've seen is them walking to class together, that doesn't mean they're shagging. Hermione's not like that." Harry defended his old friend. Ron laughed out loud, causing eggs to fly out of his mouth and hit a fourth year sitting across from him.

"Harry, don't you see? Malfoy's got her brainwashed," Ron said casually. "Now she's nothing but his little tart."

"He hasn't got her brainwashed, Ron," Harry corrected his friend. "I've seen them together, they're just friends." Ron gave Harry a surprised look.

"Are you actually sticking up for that ferret and his whore?" Ron said as Harry felt his face burn with anger at what he'd just heard.

"I can't believe you're talking about Hermione like that." He said in disbelief.

"And why not?" Ron asked. "She dumped me for that bloody Death Eater, and I'm just telling it like it is anyway." Having heard enough, Harry stood and ran out of the hall, chasing after Hermione.

*

Hermione practically ran to the Heads' Quarters, throwing herself onto the couch as tears began to flow down her face.

She couldn't believe what people were saying about her. They actually thought she was the kind of girl who'd sleep around with someone she'd hated just a few months before. It was by far the worst rumour she'd ever heard about herself.

As she cried, she tried to remind herself of what her parents had always said when she'd been teased in elementary school;

'Sticks and stones may break my bones,

But names will never hurt me.'

She repeated that saying over and over again, but it was no use. Words did hurt, she'd endured enough from Ron to know that that saying was false. Words hurt worse then anything else, and as much as she hated to admit it, she cared what others thought of her.

After a few minutes, there was a frantic knock on the door. Thinking it was Lavender or Romilda, Hermione simply shouted "Go away" and returned to sobbing into a throw pillow.

The knocking persisted, but Hermione didn't answer. She didn't want to see anyone, to hear more of what they thought of her. It was just too much for her already low self-esteem.

"Hermione, please, open up!" Came a shout from the other side of the door. "It's Harry!" Hermione got up off the couch and dragged herself over to the door.

"I've already had enough verbal bashing for one day, I don't need anymore from you!" She shouted back through her sobs.

"That's not why I'm here," Harry said through the door. "I need to talk to you. Please let me in." Giving up, Hermione threw open the door and collapsed back on the couch, her body shaking, wishing Draco was there to comfort her.

Harry ran to her side and sat beside her on the couch, feeling awkward around the crying girl.

"You wanted to talk, so talk." She told him, covering her face with her hands and bringing her knees up to her chest.

"Well, I just wanted to apologize for being such a git," Harry began, not sure if she'd believe him. "I realized that you were telling the truth, and I feel like shit for not believing you. Ron has really changed and I saw that today. I don't know why I didn't believe you before, but now I do. So will you please forgive me?" Harry spoke so fast that Hermione had to strain her ears to catch every word. After he was finished, she just sat there for a while, letting what he'd said sink in. Her sobbing lessened, and she then threw her arms around him, holding on tight.

"Oh Harry, I've missed you so much!" She exclaimed through fresh sobs. "I hated you being mad at me, but I didn't want to ruin you and Ron's friendship either!" Harry patted her back awkwardly, feeling just how he had back in fifth year when Cho Chang was crying over Cedric's death.

"Don't worry about mine and Ron's friendship. He's a foul git now, he's not himself. You're more important anyway." He told her. Hermione loosened her grip around his neck to look into his face.

"But you two are best friends," She said, her voice hoarse from crying. "You've been best friends since your first day here, I don't want to mess that up."

"And you didn't. I just realized what he's really like, and now, I want nothing to do with him." Harry told her firmly. Hermione responded by tightening her hold on his neck and crying into the crook of his shoulder. It wasn't as comforting as crying into Draco's chest, but it was better then nothing.

"I'm sorry everything's so messed up."

To Be Continued...

Ok, so I said I'd update after I got a few more reviews, so there youu all go. Thnxx goes out to:

-Karen, happy to hear youu like it.

-sinbad, glad youu liked it && thnxx for the tips in your email.

-Ms.Nomdeplume, why thank youu, here's your update.

-luvhp, yeah she is having a hard time, but don't worryy, she'll get a break soon.

-catysmom, did youu ever realize youu always review saying the same thing ? I just noticed that todayy (Sorry if youu thought this message was me complaining, it did come off like that but I was just making an observation instead of replying by saying the same thing I always seem to say to youu).

-Miss.Dee, never said I didn't think you'd still be following my storyy. Thanks for the compliment, here's your update.

Alright, there youu all go, I hope your happy because I spent all day yesterdayy writing it because I have no life. More reviews means faster updates, so keep that in mind !

Much Love...

XXX

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