“He said basically that he’s using her.”

“Using her for what?”

“I don’t know,” the boy sighed, running his fingers through his hair anxiously. “For his own sick pleasure? He doesn’t care about her.”

“I'm sure he cares about her. Maybe you’re overreacting.”

“You didn’t hear what I heard!” the boy protested next. “Malfoy said specifically that he didn’t love her.”

“They haven’t been together long enough to fall in love.”

“You can fall in love at anytime, and she thinks that she loves him. See the problem?” the boy sighed once more. “He just loved chasing after her, seeing how far she’d let him go … how much she’d go through until she’d get sick of him. I can’t believe he actually talked her into bringing him home to her parents.”

“It’s her life. I'm more than mad at her for dating him but we can’t always intervene, Ron,” Harry replied smartly, closing his book.

Ron huffed, not pleased with Harry’s words of wisdom. “Yes, we can,”
The two left the dormitory to go see Hagrid.

….

“Well, Hagrid’s getting better,” Hermione smiled weakly as she entered the Room of Requirement the next day. She sat down on the floor in front of Draco, who was up on the couch. She folded her arms, resting them on his legs, and laid her head down. “I'm exhausted.”

“I can tell. You need a break. I bet your parents would like to hear from you.”

Hermione looked up at Draco, nodding. “You’re right … you know … you’re amazing. I don’t think I’d have been able to survive these past few weeks if it weren’t for you.”

“If it weren’t for me,” he smirked, leaning down and kissing her between each phrase, “you would’ve … never been put … in this situation.”

“Mmm, I know,” she grinned, relishing each break in the words, “yet it’s so much fun.”

….

“Going to push the limits any farther?” Goyle asked, staring at his Potions essay with his eyebrows pushed together in deep concentration.

“Yeah, I think I am,” Malfoy sneered, biting his lip. “I’ve gotten things pretty far emotionally; let’s see how far I can get physically.”

“Not worried about her feelings any longer?”

“No,” he lied. In fact, he hoped that his eagerness to step out of line would make her leave him.

….

Hermione entered the common room not long after her meeting with Draco had ended. No one paid her much attention except a group of first years in the corner who appeared to be trying to hide something. She shook her head, not wanting to deal with it but knowing that she had to.

“Everything all right over here?” she asked kindly.

“Um, of course!” a blond boy squeaked.

Hermione was about to ask him what he was sitting on when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to find herself face-to-face with Ron. He looked at her anxiously, his red hair scattered as if he’d just gotten off a broom.

“What?” she questioned a bit huffily; she wouldn’t easily forget his stubborn and accusing attitude he’d experienced with her for months now.

He opened his mouth, thought better of it, shook his head and walked away.

“Wait!” Hermione cried, frustrated. “What’d you want?”

After racing to his side, Ron thrust his hands in his pockets and closed his eyes, as if trying to make a decision. Finally, he opened them and spoke slowly. “I … I’d taken Harry’s Invisibility Cloak to get past Filch for … well, that’s a whole other story … but I passed the door to the Hospital Wing when I overheard your – er, boyfriend – and Goyle talking … Hermione …”

“What?” She asked. She wasn’t very interested in his story of constant delinquency.

“He said that he doesn’t like you!” Ron said suddenly, not picking his words carefully any longer. “He basically feels bad about leading you on for this long at that he’s just pushing your buttons to see when you’ll crack!”

Hermione slapped him. She didn’t mean to – it just happened. “You are scum.” Her voice began to crack. “I knew you had a problem with us … but this is lower than low … I'm disappointed in you Ron.”

Shaking her head, she raced up to her room, anxious to get away from him.