Stolen Innocence

Chapter Seven

Draco led Granger across the grassy grounds of their school. He knew where he wanted to go, he went there when he wanted to be alone. He'd decided earlier that he would show it to her. She needed it more then he did now.

Draco wasn't exactly sure why he was being so nice to her. He supposed it was just pity. How could he be mean to someone that has gone through what she has? He may be cruel, but he wasn't his father. Even he had limits.

Lately, Draco didn't know what was wrong with himself. He'd been thinking about Granger a lot. He felt so sorry for her for what that Weasel was putting her through. He felt like murdering the foul git, and he would too, if not for wanting to finish school. He'd just have to wait to kill him until graduation. But he didn't just think of how bad he felt for Granger, he actually though of her in a good way.

Draco had begun to notice things about the little mudblood that he'd never noticed before. He now saw how she slightly scrunched her nose when she was thinking hard, or how her mouth slightly turned upwards when she said his name now. He rather liked the new things he saw with her. It was refreshing.

Not that he actually LIKED her. No he did not, he was simply finding small quirks which made him despise her less, that was all. He was just tolerating her right now, keeping her away from that foul creature she called her boyfriend. Not that he was protecting her though. He was just detouring her from the inevitable. But he didn't care, really. She was just a lower life form to him, nothing more.

The two students reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Granger stopped short of the line of trees, eyeing Draco suspiciously.

"You're not scared, are you Granger?" Draco asked her, a smile playing at his lips. He seemed to be smiling a lot lately. She puffed up slightly.

"Of course I'm not scared, I'm just being led into a dark, secluded area by a person who for the past seven years has hated my guts." She said, taking a small step towards the forest. Draco gave a small laugh, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. She flinched upon contact, but relaxed right after.

Draco led Granger deep into the forest. She kept close by his side, jumping at the slightest noise. Draco stayed calm, he'd been here countless times and knew nothing ever came this way.

The two walked on in silence, ears strained for any signs of danger. They came to a clearing after a few minutes, Draco smiling as he heard the girl gasp.

The clearing was truly beautiful, not something one would expect to find in the Forbidden Forest. The sun shone down brightly on the green grass. There was a large rock which Draco often sat on which faces a little stream that trickled around the clearing. There were some type of flowers growing in a patch at the foot of the rock, making the scene look as if from a nature magazine.

"I-it's beautiful." Granger remarked after taking in the scene. Draco smirked.

"I know." He replied, hopping up on the rock.

"How did you find this place?" She asked, still looking around with wide, cursious eyes. He hadn't seen this much light in her brown eyes all year.

"Fifth year I was just wandering around when I stumbled on it. I come here a lot to think and everything. It's really peaceful, I like it." He told her. Granger walked over to the bed of flowers, picking one and smelling it. Draco let her ingest the scene for a bit, happy for a bit of peaceful silence. Granger walked over to the stream, kneeling beside it and dipping her fingers in the cold water.

"Thanks for being there for me today," Granger said after some time. "I know it was stupid of me to get all upset about it, but it's just..." She trailed off, staring at the shallow depths of the stream.

"He just seems to hate everything about me now," She finished. Draco jumped off the rock and knelt down beside her. She had tears in her eyes. "I mean am I that horrible, that imperfect that he could hate so much about me?"

"Of course not." Draco said, putting an arm around her shoulders. She turned and faced him, her dead eyes looking into his.

"Then why does he do these things to me? Why does he have to take everything away from me and still want more?" She half shouted.

"I don't know-" Draco tried to comfort her but she kept going.

"I do everything he tells me, just to make him happy. It's always about him! I dress differently because he doesn't like how I dress, I spent the whole summer with him instead of going on vacation with my parents, I lost my bloody virginity to him and he still treats me as the gum under his shoe." She was shaking now with anger. Draco tightened his hold on her, rubbing her upper arms. She needed to get this out, she needed to vent, so he sat there and listened to her spill her heart out.

"I just love him so much, but he doesn't even seem like my friend anymore." She outright sobbed. Draco pulled her into a tight embrace, her head finding it's way to the crook of his neck. She sat there and cried for a while, letting him hold her. He held her as she shook and cried, revelling in how nice it felt to have her in his arms.

"Listen Hermione," Draco said, pulling her away slightly so she could look at his face. "You don't need to put up with his shit. Look what he's done to you, he's taken your life away. Why do you stay with him?"

"Because-because I love him. He's all I've got. No one else cares." She sobbed, avoiding his eyes.

"Of course people care, you have so many people that care for you don't you-"

"No I don't. Why would people care about me? I'm just a filthy whore anyway. Ron is right, I'm nothing. No one could ever care about me." She cried. Draco held her close again, petting her hair softly.

"Hermione, you have to see what he's done to you, he has some kind of sick hold on you that makes you believe you're so much less then you really are." He told her, but she just shook her head.

"No, it's true. No one cares. I'm different now, no one would want to be around me, I'm tainted."

"No you're not." Draco told her, looking into her eyes. She stared back at him, searching his eyes. The tears stopped flowing as she looked into his eyes.

There, staring into the eyes of a girl he's hated for so long, Draco felt something he's never felt before. It was an odd feeling. Holding her, staring into her eyes, he felt like there was no one else in the world. Time ceased to exsist, it was just him and her, together, no one else to disturb them. He felt an overwhelming urge to just kiss her, to touch his lips to her's and make all her troubles and fears go away.

Draco closed his eyes, moving his face down to her's, his lips ready to touch her lips. Her breath caught in her throat, and when their faces were barely an inch apart, she pushed him away, hard.

Draco stared at her, his face a mix of shock and confusion.

"I'm sorry," She said simply, a hand over her mouth. The tears began to well up in her eyes again. "I just can't." She then picked up her forgotten book bag, turned, and ran. She ran as fast as she could out of the forest, Draco hearing her sobs the whole way.

To Be Continued...

Ok, I hope you all like this chapter. I wanted to have Hermione open up a little bit more to Draco so I wrote it. Sorry it's taken me a few days to update, I've been really busy but since I'm now switching schools I now have two more days freed up for me to update.Thnxx goes out to:

-qtfool,yess he does need to get a beating.

-angelnomiko,yeahh I know Harry isn't being very perceptive in this story, but he's pretty preoccupied but he may just catch on after a while.

-Alice, happy youu like it.

-Tjay Motou,well thanks for helping me with that. I just wanted to add a little bit of badass Draco in the last chapter and what a better way to be a rebel then to skip class.

-MalineMalfoy,well thank you,I'm happy that you like my characterization,thnxx for your review.

-Lindsey,hmm...you'd review everyday,huh? I like the sounds of that,I love my reviews, but don't worry,I'll keep updating this story,I love it too much to give it up.

-pickles87, no Ron isn't a Death Eater, many people have asked that. That's just the effects of alcoholism,it makes you irritable and abusive.

-Dee,here's your update.

-Anon,glad youu like it.

--B-,well thank youu.

I'm so happy I got so many nice reviews, it makes me happy. Make me more happy and give me more reviews please !

Much Love...

XXX

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