Stolen Innocence

This chapter is dedicated to sticky, whose goal was to get a chapter dedicated to them. Hopefully youu like this one.

Chapter Six

After the night that Malfoy found out about Ron's abusive behaviour, Hermione discovered that he was a whole lot less hostle towards her.

Hermione found it both refreshing and odd. Malfoy had never been civil to her before, and now they acted almost like friends. They didn't talk much, it was still too early for that, but they acknowledged each other in the halls. Even when he was with his friends, Malfoy still nodded at her when the two passed in the halls.

Harry noticed something was different between the two former enemies. After Potions class one day, he pulled Hermione aside and expressed his concerns.

"Hermione, I've noticed you've been acting really wierd lately." He told her, a worried look on his face.

"What do you mean?" Hermione replied, not sure what he was talking about. She didn't think she was acting any different from before. And even if she was, why choose now, when she was acting different for the better, to voice his concerns.

"Well, I don't know. For a while you've just been acting withdrawn, kind of like you were a zombie or something. And now you seem a little more upbeat, but you still barely ever even talk to me." Harry said, affectionately touching her arm.

"Harry, I'm fine. I'm just happy to be back at Hogwarts, I mean, I thought it was closed for good." She gave him a small smile for reassurance. He returned her smile.

"Alright Mione, I'll buy it for now, but let's keep in touch. I'm worried about you."

"Well you shouldn't be." She told him, then gave him a small hug and rushed off to the Great Hall for lunch where Ron was waiting for her at the Gryffindor table.

"Hi Ron." Hermione greeted her boyfriend, giving him a small peck on the cheek.

"Hi." He grumbled in response.

"Okay, what's wrong?" She asked, wanting to get it over with. She knew something was coming, he hadn't really scolded her for a few days, so it was only a matter of time.

"You were pretty perky in Defense Against the Dark Arts today." He commented, his expression dark.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked. Was he going to be mad at her for being in a good mood?

"You know what it's supposed to mean. You, all happy, answering questions before anyone else could, making us all look bad." Hermione sighed in frustration. Just when she was starting to be happy again he had to go and ruin it all.

"It's not my fault I know all the answers. I thought you'd be happy that I earned Gryffindor some points." She replied, annoyed.

"Yeah, you earned us points. But you made everyone else look like an idiot."

"What do you want me to do, stop answering questions?" She asked sarcastically.

"What a brilliant idea. I think you should do that." He answered.

"What?"

"You heard me," Ron said,standing up and grabbing her thigh roughly at the same time. Hermione winced in pain as he squeezed." Stop being such a bloody know-it-all all the damn time." With that,he kissed her roughly, squeezing harder for good measure and walked away, leaving her with tears of pain burning her eyes.

Hermione glanced over at the Slytherin table out of habit. She locked eyes with Malfoy who it seemed had witnessed the whole thing. He gave her a sympathetic look (or at least, the best one he could muster) and she ran out of the hall, fighting back the tears.

Not wanting to return to her common room, Hermione sought refuge in her favourite place in all of Hogwarts, the library. She found a quiet corner by herself and pulled out some books, meaning to distract herself.

Hermione tried to read one of her textbooks, but she couldn't see through the tears. So instead, she covered her face with her hands and cried. She didn't know how long she cried for, but after a while she sensed she was no longer alone. Rubbing her eyes, she uncovered her face and looked across the table, only to find Malfoy sitting in the seat infront of her.

Nothing was said for a while, Malfoy put his hand awardly ontop of her's on the table top. He listened to her sob for a while longer, then they just sat in silence.

"Why'd you come?" Hermione asked after she'd cried herself dry.

"Don't you want me here?" Was his reply. She gave him a small, and then there was more silence.

"It's wierd..." Hermione said after a while.

"Why must you never finish your sentences?" Malfoy asked, teasing her.

"Ha ha," She said sarcastically. "And I was going to say, it's weird how Ron can become such a git over a few months, and then you can become so nice in just a few nights." Malfoy gave her a twisted disgusted look.

"Nice? Malfoys aren't nice," He said. "We're cruel and foul and cockroaches, remember?" Hermione gave a small laugh.

"You know I'm sorry, right?" She told him after they'd stopped laughing. "I didn't really know you, just knew what I'd heard about you. And now I know how wrong I was."

"Please Granger, stop with all this sappy stuff before I vomit." Malfoy replied, smiling.

"Oh please." She sighed, then grabbed her books and headed out of the library. Malfoy jogged to catch up.

"Where you going?" He asked when he caught up.

"Class, which is where you should be headed too." Hermione replied, not glancing away from her books.

"Hah, yeah, right. Come on Granger, we're the heads of the school, we have immunity." He told her, still pretending to jog.

"Exactly Malfoy, we are the heads, which means we should be setting a good example by showing up for class." Malfoy snorted.

"Do you always have to be so prim and proper?" Hermione stopped walking and looked over at the blonde haired boy.

"I am not always prim and proper!" She said defensively. Malfoy gave her a look. "I'm not!"

"Prove it." He said, staring her intensely in the eyes. She felt an odd sensation as she stared back at the silver orbs in his eyes. She couldn't explain it, it was like a fluttering sensation in her stomache. She made note to look the feeling up as soon as she got the chance.

"I am not going to ditch class with you, Malfoy." Hermione said firmly, averting her eyes from his. She made to walk passed him, but he stepped in her way.

"Come on, Granger." He said, giving her puppy dog eyes.

"Are you begging me, Mr. Malfoy?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Of course not, Malfoys don't beg." He replied seriously.

"Well, either way, I'm going to class." Hermione then pushed passed Malfoy and continued on her way. She expected him to follow, half of her wanted him to, but he didn't. She glanced back to where he was to see him standing, shoulders sagged, head bowed. She felt sorry for him. She let out a sigh and turned around and walked back over.

"Okay, fine. But just this once." She said when she reached him. He lifted his head up and a smirk was imprinted on his face.

"I knew you'd say yes." He remarked.

"How?" She asked.

"Well, let's face it, you're a sucker for a sweet talker." He said, smiling. The two shared a laugh as they began walking down the corridor.

To Be Continued...

Well, not many people reviewed but I said I'd update later in the week and frankly, I'm in a good mood so I felt like updating. Just thought I'd add a chapter showing how the relationship between Draco && Hermione has changed. It may seem a little out of character for Draco, but just remember, they're friends now so he'd going to be nice to her. Thnxx goes out to:

-sticky,well, there's your dedication. Glad you've been liking this story. I always respond to my reviewers, I just like interacting with them. I hope youu get a story dedicated to youu somedayy.

-Tjay Motou, thanks for the tips. I never knew putting a space after commas && periods was grammar, just goes to show how little I was taught in English at school. Yeah, I was a little worried that at the end of the last chapter Draco would be out of character, but thnxx for telling me different.

More reviews && maybe I'll update again this weekend !

Much Love...

XXX

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