Draco woke up the next morning bright and early, after all he was use to getting up at the crack of dawn from his father storming in after one of his many vicious attacks on the innocent and would barge into his bedroom to tell him all about it and share gruesome details that Draco could not stomach to listen to. He laid there in bed for a moment longer just thinking, just being. He was grateful McGonagall was nice enough to give him the private Head boy dorm since there was no Head Boy or Girl this year and he was one of the oldest Slytherins attending Hogwarts, in fact he was the only Slytherin from his 7th year that returned. He knew some of the sixth years who were now seventh years with him but still not having his friends attend school this year with him was different. Friends, is that what they really were? Probably not, just pawns like himself put in place, just puppets waiting to be maneuvered about.
He let his thoughts travel back to his private room, he was glad McGonagall could tell more about him then he needed to explain, not that he needed or wanted anyone's pity but he knew the Headmistress was aware of his touchy situation and thought it best this way. He flung the blankets off himself and went to take a shower, when he stepped out to dry off he took a glance over himself. He was met with so many bruises that were almost healed and so many scars from the many beatings he endured. He thought back to one evening when his father returned home from an attack that didn't go as planned and it was taken out on him. He remembered his father using the Cruciatus curse on him that night more than any other night because he didn't lift the curse for a good 10 minutes at least that's what Draco figured until he lost consciousness from the pain. It was during that torturous episode that as he fell to his knees and thrashed around on the ground helpless that he cut his shoulder on the edge of a piece of furniture causing a large gash. Ahhh, the Cruciatus Curse, he knew it all too well unfortunately, his father had found a way to tap into Draco's mind and perform the curse even when he wasn't even around. Sometimes he would be put under the curse in the middle of the night knowing it must be because one of his father's raids didn't go as planned or sometimes just because he wanted to keep him in check.
He ran his fingers over his scar then traced the length of his arm where his fingers traced a few smaller scars over his wrist. Never had he thought he would be adding to the collection of scars his father caused by his own hand. Sometimes it was just too much to deal with and Draco wasn't sure really why he was still alive, why didn't he just take his life already? He knew he was to afraid to go through with it, he was a coward in every way possible it made him sick to even look at himself in the mirror and brought his fist up to it shattering the mirror to pieces. He cursed under his breath when he saw his hand full of glass and blood and he quickly cleaned up and repaired the mirror with his wand and got dressed. He wrapped his hand up and headed down for his first class of Potions.
Walking into class he noticed he was the last one to arrive and took a seat in the back. Every eye turned to look at him but he ignored it. He saw Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny sitting diagonally from him. "That's right the little Weaslette is a seventh year now so she gets to hang with her precious trio every minute of the day now" he thought to himself. He rolled his eyes at this thought and pulled out his potions book for class.
"Ahhh Mr. Malfoy, glad you could make it this morning. Now class we are going to start with a simple potion for today to get our minds refreshed. Today we are making a sleeping draught potion, so let's get into pairs" said Professor Slughorn as he wrote the instructions down on the board.
The class scrambled about, although there wasn't much of a class maybe 20 if that altogether. Hermione of course was paired with Ron and Ginny made sure Luna and Harry were partners hoping that Harry would catch on to Luna's feelings for him. She sniggered at the thought and shook her head. She went to go find another partner when Slughorn spoke.
"Ah perfect, looks like you Miss Weasley and Mr. Malfoy are the only two left without a partner, please go ahead" he said with a stupid smile on his face that Ginny wanted to slap right off of him.
She looked at the trio who gave her an apologetic look and she grabbed her things and stomped over to where Malfoy sat in the back of the room. Why was he all the way back here anyway? Everyone was up front, the class was half empty. She was annoyed to say the least. She slammed her books down on the desk and scraped the chair out and sat down.
"I see your barbaric handling of things is still in full swing" Malfoy sneered at her.
Ginny rolled her eyes, but had to smirk at his sarcastic comment. She squinted to try and see the board from the back of the classroom. "Maybe we should move up I can hardly see the instructions"
"Don't bother, I know this potion like the back of my hand, here" he said writing down the instructions and handing it to her. "You do it since technically it's your first time doing it and I'll observe" he said slouching back in his chair.
That was the most words she thinks she ever heard Malfoy speak to her, he sounded annoyed, was it with her? Why did she care if it was? She noticed his bandaged hand and then took note of her staring at him again and quickly looked away before he caught her AGAIN. She started cutting up some ingredients for the potion.
"What happened to your hand?" she asked casually adding the ingredients to her potion.
"Why don't you keep your eyes on your potion Weasley" he spat
Ginny felt a slight flush in her cheeks and then continued working on the potion. The potion had to sit for 10 minutes and brew so she found herself in complete awkward silence with Malfoy sitting next her. Why was she always stuck in these situations? She looked over to Harry and Luna; they were laughing and enjoying each other's company. She smiled to herself, she then thought how this was the closest Malfoy and Harry have been next to each other since the battle last year so she could only imagine the tension that was between them. For a moment she was thankful it was her paired with Malfoy and not Harry. She couldn't suppress the giggle that came out at the thought.
Draco's eyes darted over to her giggling; it was such a cute giggle, so innocent so warming. He mentally slapped himself for thinking like that. "What's so amusing Weasley?"
"Oh, just a thought I had" she said checking on the potion and checking the temperature of it.
"Oh yes I can only imagine what goes through that redheaded mind" he drawled
"I was thinking as awkward as it is to be paired up with Draco Malfoy, how much more awkward it would be if you and Harry were paired together" she giggled even more while explaining her thoughts to him.
Draco gave a half laugh and shook his head at the thought, "Yeah pretty fuckin awkward I would think" he said looking in Harry's direction. "Why aren't you partners with your precious Potter?"
"There is no precious Potter thank you very much, we're just friends, and we're more like brother and sister then anything so.....yeah" she said mixing the potion.
Draco got lost in his thoughts at this. This is probably the most he talked to someone since the war ended. He didn't like it or did he? He wouldn't allow himself to like anything, especially the Weasley in front of him. She hasn't slept it seemed, her eyes seemed a bit cold and empty, but her smile and her giggle was enough to make you forget about the look in her eyes. She was obviously masking emotions it seemed. Draco couldn't help but feel guilty at this, he had been part of such a disgraceful group of followers and now he was trapped it seemed, no way out except death of course which for Draco didn't seem that bad of an idea right now.
"Malfoy?"
He looked over to the redhead
"I asked if this was the right color" she said showing him a sample she took from the cauldron. "You ok?"
He just looked at her for a moment before he grabbed his books and stormed out of the classroom.
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Ginny's next class was charms which went by pretty smoothly, she noticed Malfoy didn't show up and when she arrived for lunch she noticed he wasn't there either. She wasn't sure why she was thinking so much about the blonde, perhaps it was just because they seemed to be partners or have more run ins with one another more then she would like. She barely ate any food and decided to get a head start to her next class.
Hermione watched Ginny walk out of the Great Hall after barely touching her food, she turned to Ron who was stuffing his face with a sandwich. "I wonder what's up with Ginny."
"Not sure, why?" he said swallowing his food.
"I know she's dealing with things her own way but I'm worried she's holding too much in"
"I'll try talking to her later tonight, maybe I can help"
"Thanks Ron" she said giving him a small kiss on the lips.
She was so happy to have Ron in her life, so grateful their feelings came to surface. Of course she would have loved for it to happen sooner but in that moment when they both thought death was moments away it seemed to be a now or never thing. She smiled at her memory of that moment; Ron helped her get through a lot of her grieving and her for him also. Harry vented to her and Ron as well, but Ginny..........she didn't, she retreated into herself and stayed there. Hermione's heart ached for her friend, she knew Ginny had people she could talk to but not someone she could seek comfort in. Of course she could seek comfort in any of her friends but Hermione knew Ginny wouldn't burden any of them with her feelings. She commended her friend for trying to be strong but she worried it was too much for her now and after countless attempts to try and have her share her thoughts with her she decided to stop trying and just offer a shoulder to lean on and a talk whenever she was ready or whenever needed.
"So I think Luna and I are going to go to Hogsmeade this weekend together" Harry said as he finished his food.
"Oh that's great Harry" Hermione said being pulled from her thoughts.
"Yeah she's great, we have a lot in common and yeah she's a bit different but I kind of find it......ya know"
"Gosh mate, don't make me hurl now" said Ron wrapping Hermione up in a hug
"That's sweet Harry, don't listen to Ron, he's not a romantic after all" Hermione teased lightly hitting Ron on the shoulder.
"Ha yeah well I had to watch you two snog and what not all summer so the least you could do is listen to me" Harry laughed and then got up. "We better start heading to class"
They grabbed their things and started heading to their Defense against the Dark Arts class.
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Ginny walked into the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom and saw she was the first to arrive.
"Ahhh Good Afternoon, you must be Miss Ginny Weasley?" said Professor Warren coming out from his office.
"Oh, uh yeah, how did you know" Ginny asked curiously
He walked up to her with a mischievous smirk on his face and looked her over for a moment, "Well there aren't many redheaded 7th years running around, now are there?"
Ginny looked at the floor when the man's eyes gave her a once over, "oh I guess not" she said taking a seat.
Draco was the next one to show up to class and sat in the back as usual. He saw Ginny look over to him like she wanted to ask what happened earlier but she stopped when Professor Warren walked up to Draco.
"And you must be Draco Malfoy" he spoke holding his hand out to shake Draco's
Draco just glared at him and gave a sarcastic response "In the flesh" while ignoring his professors hand.
"Yes yes indeed" said Warren putting his hand down and walking back to the front of the class.
Draco couldn't place it but Professor Warren looked familiar like he had seen him somewhere before but he just couldn't figure out from where. He turned his eyes to Ginny who gave him a "What the fuck" look. Apparently she got the same feeling from him. The rest of the class started piling in and Hermione took a seat next to Ginny and Ron next to Harry. Draco was sitting behind Harry and Ron not that he cared he really didn't have a problem with Harry or his friends, he was just made to believe that he should. Although there was so much tension between them all that there was no way there couldn't be a problem.
"Good afternoon everyone and welcome to Defense against the Dark Arts" Professor Warrens voice rang throughout the classroom. He seemed a little too happy to be teaching. "Today we are going to be practicing just some simple disarming spells to ease us into the good stuff, I trust we are all familiar with the Expelliarmus spell?" seeing the nods from everyone he continued, "Great great well today we will try the Expelliarmus spell without reciting the incantation. You really need to dig deep and concentrate to be able to perform such magic so let's all pair up and get started, Mr. Potter why don't you and I partner up so everyone is evened out"
Harry got up and walked over to the Professor, he had a bit too much excitement in his eyes for Harry's liking. Harry took out his wand and got into a proper stance. The rest of the students did the same, Hermione and Ginny were partners and Luna and Ron. Draco was with some other seventh year Hufflepuff.
"Alright everyone ready, 3........2..........1"
Draco disarmed the Hufflepuff before the countdown even started; he had the unfortunate experience to be in a few encounters where wordless spells flew about. He watched the other groups, he saw Harry had no problem doing the same to the Professor, he smirked at this. They were just in a war a few months ago and these spells seemed so juvenile. After a few more attempts of Draco's Hufflepuff partner trying to disarm him Draco just gave in and let him succeed so he can stand and watch the others. He walked over to get a better look. There was Ginny, no problem at all trying to disarm Granger, they laughed at each turn they took. He watched Luna getting the better of Ron who was trying so desperately to succeed and started cursing up a storm at her quickness and ease of the spell. Then he saw I a spell shoot out of Professor Warren's wand hitting Harry dead in the chest knocking him on his back with a harsh thud. The whole class stopped and stared wide eyed at the Professor and Harry who was regaining himself and wobbly getting up from the floor.
"What the hell was that Professor?" said Harry with a look of suspicion on his face.
"Whoops, looks like there was more power to that Expelliarmus spell then I thought" he said smiling
"That was no Expelliarmus spell that was an attacking spell" Harry argued looking confused.
"Was it? Hmm, guess I'm a bit rusty myself, no matter no matter, lets tie it up for today and we will try blocking spells tomorrow. Good work everyone" He said then quickly retreated into his office.
Harry just stood there looking confused and suspicious of the professor's actions. He saw Luna, Ron, Hermione and Ginny walk up to him.
"Are you alright mate?" said Ron
"Yeah I'm fine, that was weird"
"I'd say he's supposed to be a teacher so he shouldn't be rusty at all" Hermione chimed in.
"That almost seemed like it was done on purpose" Ginny said following them out of the classroom.
Draco had to admit he was a bit shocked to see the spell his professor used on Potter, even though he enjoyed seeing Potter knocked on his ass, he knew there was something up with this guy. He grabbed his bag to leave when he heard his professor yell to him from the office
"Oh Mr. Malfoy, Professor Slughorn said you abruptly left class earlier, so your serving detention with me this evening at 8pm" then turned and closed his office door again.
Draco rolled his eyes and mumbled under his breath "just fuckin peachy" and then stormed out of the classroom.
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The rest of the day went by uneventful, which Ginny was thankful for, until Professor Slughorn approached her after dinner and asked that she'd give her Potions partner their homework assignment. She really didn't want to see Malfoy again but she'd be lying if she wasn't curious about his behavior this morning.
"I guess let me go give Malfoy our homework assignment" Ginny sighed getting up off the Gryffindor common room couch.
"He's serving detention I think with Warren tonight, heard Slughorn talking to Warren about it earlier at dinner" said Ron not looking up as he was to into his game of chess against Harry.
"Ugh lovely, if I never see Professor Warren again it will be too soon" Ginny said as she left the common room.
She made her way to Professor Warren's classroom; the halls were pretty empty now as students were all in their common rooms at this hour. She walked into the classroom at five minutes before 8 and saw that Malfoy wasn't there.
"Can I help you Miss Weasley" came Professor Warren's voice
"Oh uh yeah, I was looking for Malfoy, I had to give him a homework assignment from class this morning"
"I see, he hasn't arrived yet, please come have a seat in my office and wait for him"
"Oh, no that's ok I can just wait in the hall for him"
"Nonsense" he said walking over to her and put his arm around her shoulders, "I insist I can use the company" he said leading her into his office.
If she thought her ride on the train with Malfoy was uncomfortable then it was nothing compared to the situation she was in now. Professor Warren already seemed like a weirdo and now here she was sitting across from him in his office........alone. She felt a lump in her throat form as he walked in front of her and leaned on his desk. He looked down at her, his face handsome but his features menacing. He looked so sure of himself, which made Ginny that much more uncomfortable.
"How do you like your first day back, Ginny?"
"I-uh-It.....was fine" she said looking down towards the floor.
"Good, glad to hear that, I bet you had to fight some guys off of you eh?" he said with that huge smile he wore so confidently.
"Excuse me sir? What do you mean?"
He bent down so that he was eye level with her and he placed a hand on her knee. Ginny felt her heart beat 10 times faster and her face go completely red. The hairs on her neck were standing completely up and her entire body tensed. The lump in her throat seemed so big she thought she might choke on it.
"I mean look at yourself Ginny, such a gorgeous young woman, and with a body like yours I'm sure you have plenty of eyes on you" he said sliding his hand a bit higher up her thigh.
Ginny heard the class room door open and knew it must be Malfoy that came in; she never thought she would be so happy to have his presence near. She went to stand to get up, but Warren gently pushed her back down and opened his office door.
"Mr. Malfoy, I'll be right with you just having a meeting with Miss Weasley here"
Draco looked from his professor standing in the doorway of his office to Ginny sitting in the chair in front of his desk. As Professor Warren was closing his office door he saw Ginny look up and lock eyes with him with a look of pure horror, it's like her eyes were screaming for him to save her, but why? What did Professor Warren have to talk to Ginny about? He figured she was just weirded out to be alone with the man after all he was a complete nutcase it seemed. He sat down and let his thoughts fill his mind on what could be going on behind that door.
When Ginny saw the office door close she knew all chances of being saved from this highly inappropriate situation had vanished. Professor Warren turned back to her and kneeled back down in front of her.
"Now where were we" he said placing both hands on her knees and sliding them up her thighs
"I....I...Uh....sh-should really give Malfoy his assignments" she stuttered, surprised she even was able to get that out.
"Mr. Malfoy can wait, your worth my extra time" he whispered in her ear and then slid one of his hands up her blouse.
Ginny grasped the handles of the chair in fear of how far he would take this. Her mind screamed at her "DO SOMETHING! WHY ARENT YOU FIGHTING BACK, HE HAS NO RIGHT TO TOUCH YOU!" but her body was frozen, she was feeling dizzy and completely nauseous. She felt his hand graze her bra and she let out a fearful gasp.
"Now Now Miss Weasley, everything is ok, you're just going to relax and give me what I want" he said with a sinister smirk sliding across his face.
Ginny's body started shaking, her mind was racing and she completely panicked and made a dash for the door. All she had to do was rip the door open enough for Malfoy to notice. As soon as she was out of her chair, her hand was almost on the handle of the door when she felt him grab a handful of her hair and yank her back with such force she fell into his desk causing a few figurines to fall off and shatter into pieces. She pulled out her wand and pointed it at him.
"Don't you come near me you sicko" she spat at him, her hand trembling.
He quickly disarmed her and in one quick stride grabbed her around the neck and slammed her to the wall. Her eyes went wide with the site that fell before her. Right there on his arm that was around her neck was the Dark Mark, it was then that her mind registered that she was being attacked by an undercover Death Eater. That's when she screamed.
Draco was waiting for Professor Warren when he heard a huge crash and the shattering of glass coming from the office. His instincts made him stand up and he walked closer to the office not sure if he should go in. And then he heard a bang followed by Ginny's scream. He immediately went to the door to open it and found it locked.
"You listen to me you little bitch and you listen good. If you speak of any of this to anyone I will slaughter your entire family, and leave you for last, do you hear me?" he whispered to her as his hand was covering her mouth.
She nodded with tears coming down her face.
"Good, now we will have to have another "meeting" soon to finish what we started, and Miss Weasley, do not go against me you will lose, I promise you that, I have killed thousands and the only thing stopping me from snapping your neck right now is that I still have a need and a want from you. Now get out" he scowled as he released his hold on her and she fell to the floor not even noticing she wasn't even touching the ground to begin with.
She scrambled to get up as fast as she could, she ran to the door where Draco was knocking and calling for his Professor to open the door. She flung the door open and ran right into Malfoy. She locked eyes with him for a moment as he spoke "Are you ok, what's going on?" She looked at the floor and ran as fast as she could from the classroom.
Draco turned to look at this professor, "What the hell was that all about?"
"Oh nothing to concern yourself with, Miss Weasley is just having a hard time this year you know, dealing with the after math of the war and all, she came to me for a chat"
"You of all people? I doubt that, why did she scream then?" Draco drilled him clasping his hand around his wand in his pocket.
Professor Warren noticing this looked at Draco with an amused look, "She knocked something off my desk and it startled her is all, listen why don't we pretend you served detention and turn in for the night" he said gesturing his hand to the door for Draco to leave.
Draco just shook his head in disbelief, he knew this guy was trouble the moment he saw him, "Yeah I guess so" he said through clenched teeth. Draco eyed him up and down with such suspicion. He decided to try and catch up to Ginny and find out what happened. He ran out of the classroom and saw her running down the hall towards Moaning Myrtles bathroom. He ran after her and followed her inside; he heard her throwing up in one of the stalls.
"Weasley?"
Ginny was in pure shock right now, she wasn't sure what to think how to act who to go to; she couldn't go to anyone, could she? She heard Draco call for her and wasn't sure what to do. She sat on the floor of the stall and hugged her knees to her chest and started sobbing into them. She heard Draco walking over to the stall and gently pushed it opened. She didn't care how pathetic she looked in this moment she didn't care if he called her every name in the book, she just wanted to cry. Draco squatted down next to her.
"What happened, Weasley?"
"Pl.....Please....l...leave ....m...me......alone" she sobbed
"What did he do to you?" Draco demanded to know
She looked up at him, why was he asking, why did he follow her in here? Then her mind went back to Warrens Dark Mark and her eyes fell onto the one sticking out on Draco's forearm beneath his shirt. She panicked and stood up and pulled out her wand.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!"
"Wow what? What's going on Weasley?"
"DO YOU THINK IM STUPID MALFOY? WHAT ARE YOU TWO WORKING TOGETHER?" she screamed her tears flowing and her body shaking.
Suddenly, it was like a light switch had gone off in Draco's head. Professor Warren looked so familiar because he had seen him at the Manor before during a death eater meeting with his father. A look of shock covered his face when he realized Ginny probably thought he was working side by side with the professor as he watched her eye the marking on his arm.
"Warren is a Death Eater?" he asked although he already came to this conclusion.
"OF COURSE HE FUCKIN IS, AND SO ARE YOU, THATS WHY YOU WERE THERE TONIGHT FOR SOME SUPPOSABLE DETENTION, SO THAT YOU CAN KEEP WATCH AS HE TRIED TO......TO.........." she trailed off and fell to her knees in a fit of uncontrollable sobs.
Draco didn't know how to act; he didn't know what to do. All he could think about was what the end of that sentence was. He walked over to Ginny cautiously and kneeled down beside her. He sat there for a few moments while she sobbed until he spoke.
"I had no idea he was a death Eater, I knew he looked familiar but I didn't know where from, I just now pieced it together"
"How conveniently so" Ginny said with such anger looking up at him, her hair was all over her face, her clothes were disheveled and her neck had a red mark around it. Her eyes were dripping with tears and the look on her face made Draco want to grab her and hug her.
"I'm NOT a death eater Weasley, whether you believe me or not" he said turning to leave.
"WAIT!" Ginny yelled after him and he turned to look at her, "You can't say anything about what happened, please?" she whispered
Draco was filled with rage at this point; he strode over to her and kneeled back down next to her "ARE YOU FUCKIN CRAZY? OF COURSE YOU NEED TO SAY SOMETHING, THERES A GOD DAMN DEATH EATER TEACHING DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS, NOT TO MENTION THAT HE JUST ASSAULTED YOU!" he yelled at her.
"SHHH! NO please you can't say anything, he threatened my family, please!" she looked at him pleadingly fresh tears streaming down her face.
He just stared at her, there was no way he could keep this a secret, he knew his father must have arranged this so that Warren could get close to Harry and well Ginny was just something extra for him to mess with while he carried out his plan. Draco's stomach twisted at the thought of this; of course he wouldn't tell this to Ginny it would just make her more upset. He then thought about if his father found out it was him who blew Warrens cover, he thought about how severely he would be punished by the hands of his father if he ever found out. He was such a coward; he wasn't going to say anything for his own wellbeing over the girl before him who was just sexually assaulted.
"I'm not saying that I'm keeping this a secret, I'm saying you need to say something, what are you going to do tomorrow when you have class with him?"
"I don't know, I just need time to think........."she trailed off
He wasn't sure what to do, he wanted to walk away but he felt bad leaving her here alone in the girls' bathroom crying after such a horrific event. Her voice brought his attention back to her.
"I'm sorry I called you a death eater, I just panicked, I was scared" she whispered as she wiped away more tears and sat up hugging her knees to her chest and laying her head against the wall.
Draco took a seat next to her and sighed, "Well technically I am, not by choice though, but let's just say my father and I disagree on many levels about things"
They sat in silence for a few more minutes, and then Draco stood up.
"Come on I'll walk you to your common room"
Ginny stood up and together they headed towards the Gryffindor common room. They stopped in front of the portrait of the fat lady.
"Well here is the homework assignment from Slughorn's class" she said handing Draco a piece of paper.
"Oh yeah" he said taking it and putting it in his robe pocket
He looked at Ginny and he saw she was starting to cry again, "I'm glad you had a detention tonight, if you weren't there then......." she trailed off shaking her head and then said the password to the fat lady and quickly walked into the common room.
Draco just stood there for a few more moments before heading back down to his room knowing that sleep was more than likely not happening tonight.
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Ginny walked through the portrait hole to find Harry, Ron and Hermione were still up. They all turned to look at her noticing her crying. They all jumped up in unison and ran up to her.
"Oh my gosh, Ginny are you ok what happened?" said Hermione looking her friend over like a frantic mother.
"Gin, what happened did Malfoy do something to you?" said Ron angrily taking out his wand as if he was going to be off in search of him to hex him.
"NO, NO, NO!!! STOP!!!" she shouted making them all take a step back, "I'm fine guys honestly I just.........I'm just overtired and emotional is all, I think I'll go up and take a shower and head to bed" she said giving them a small smile.
They all gave a nod and she went upstairs to her dorm. She ran into the bathroom locked the door and immediately undressed and got into the shower, she felt so dirty and needed to scrub herself clean. This was the worse first day back to school she could ever have imagined. She wasn't sure how to handle the situation, she felt trapped. She turned the water hotter and scrubbed harder making her skin red. Her thoughts traveled to Draco, why did he follow her, why was he wanting to know what happened to her, why did he care so much. She was so grateful for him knocking on Professor Warren's door when he had his hands around her neck, if Draco wasn't there he would have raped her for certain and she could only imagine what else. She slumped to a ball in the shower and cried until the water ran cold.