"You're a fucking prick Malfoy!" Hermione snapped storming into the common room they had been forced to share. Wasn't that just like Dumbledore to try and promote inter-house unity. And, since they were both head boy and girl they were surpossed to be mature enough to handle it. If he only knew.

"Same to you mud-blood whore!" The door slammed behind them and they whirled around, staring into each other's eyes with pure loathing.

"I'm trying to HELP you!" Hermione snapped. "But I can't do that if you won't tell me what's wrong!"

"Nothing is wrong!" Malfoy growled. "What do you care anyway? You hate me!" No shit….

"You hated me first. I can't stand to see you like this! Tell me Draco!" Malfoy sneered.

"So it's Draco now?"

"When are you going to get over yourself and realize that I actually care about you?" Hermione yelled. "Do I hate you as person? Hell yes! But I don't want to see you hurting like this! No one deserves that, not even you"

"Stay out of it Granger, you have no idea." Ok now she was just getting annoyed.

"Well being a deatheater must be very hard on you."

"Shut up!" Draco said moving his face within inches of hers. Hermione didn't stop, she was on a roll.

"You are a self-riotous, arrogant, little git!" She yelled in his face. "Your just like your fucking father!" So there.

"SHUT UP!" Draco screamed at her. With one hand he grabbed her wrist and pushed her up against a wall. Hermione cried out in pain, he was gripping her wrist hard!

"NEVER compare me to my father! You have no fucking idea!" Hermione saw anger in Draco's grey eyes and it scared her. For a minuet she honestly thought he was going to kill her. As suddenly as it had come the anger left his eyes. He stared at Hermione in disbelief and quickly let go of her wrist.

"Oh my god…." He said softly. "Oh my god Hermione…I'm...I'm sorry."

"Draco PLEASE!" She whispered, gripping her throbbing wrist.

"I can't…" Draco said and turned on his heels. The door slammed shut behind him. Hermione stared after him for a few second before shaking her head.

"Screw it!" She muttered before making her way up to Draco's room. She was actually very surprised at what she saw. Unlike most teenagers rooms Draco's was impeccably clean. He had a few posters of animals and rock bands but mostly the walls were bare. There were books EVERYWHERE. Then Hermione found what she was looking for in the corner of Draco's room. A little bowl filled with opaque liquid. Bingo.

Slowly Hermione went over to the bowl and, taking a deep breath shoved her head in. Memories instantly flooded her mind.

The first thing that Hermione registered was the smell of dust. Dust? Where was she? Slowly she blinked and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness she realized that she was lying under a bed. The next thing she heard was the quiet sound of breathing. Turning her head she saw what must have been a young Draco Malfoy. He looked to be about seven or eight. His platinum blonde hair was mussed and his lip was cut. He was barley breathing and the look in his eyes was of utmost terror. Instinctively Hermione reached out her hand to comfort him. It passed right through him. He didn't even blink. Then he stiffed and as Hermione strained her ears she could hear it, footsteps.

"Draco!" Came a loud, angry voice. "Come out you sniveling coward!" That could only be Lucius. There came a loud bang a few feet away and Draco closed his eyes, breathing quickly. The footsteps stopped at the foot of the bed.

"Please" Draco mouthed, eyes closed. "Please, please, please!" All of a sudden the bed flew up and Draco was thrown to the floor. He struggled to get up as Lucius sneered in disgust. He seemed to tower over his frightened son.

"Hiding again?" With a quick blow he struck Draco across the back with his cane. He cried out in agony. He tried to bite his lip against the pain and a single tear feel from his eye. Hermione's breath caught in her throat.

"Get up!" Lucius snapped, kicking his son in the ribs. Although Draco tried he let out a cry of pain and collapsed to the floor. Disgusted Lucius hit him again.

"Stop it!" Hermione cried. "Stop!"

"Stop please." Draco whimpered. "I promise father I'll never do it again! Please PLEASE!" With a cry he was hit again.

"No!" Hermione yelled and the world started to change around her. The last thing she heard was Lucius screaming at Draco between blows. "

"This. Will. Teach. You. Not. To. Get water. On. The. Bathroom. Floor!"

Suddenly Hermione was in the Malfoy kitchen. Draco was tied to a chair in front of her. He was older now, maybe 13 or 14. He struggled to break free but could not. Behind him Lucius stood poking the fire. This seemed strange to Hermione since the window showed summer weather.

"You think you can get out of this Draco." Lucius purred. "But you know I always get my way."

"Not this time." Draco said in a horse whisper. "His eyes never left the fire poker. Lucius got up and began to stroll around the room, poker in hand.

"Why do you resist?" He hissed. "Why fight it? Why not surrender yourself to the darkness? Like your ancestors. Like your mother and me." For a minuet there was silence. Then Draco spoke so softly Hermione had to strain her ears to hear.

"Because I'm not you." Draco said, "Because I will never be like you." Deathly silence followed in which Lucius and Draco stared each other in the eye. Hermione forgot how to breathe. Even in his position Draco stared defiantly at his father, never breaking eye contact. It was amazing how two pairs of grey eyes, so similar in color, could represent such different men. Finally, with a sick grin Lucius thrust the red-hot poker on to Draco's back. There was a sound of burning flesh and Draco screamed.

"You think you've won." Lucius snapped, burning Draco again "But I always win. Always." As the horrible sounds of a father hurting his child filled the air Hermione felt herself going back. She ended up sitting on the floor of Draco's room but she didn't realize it. Her head was still ringing with his screams.

"Oh God." She whispered. "All this time…no one knew…." She remembered how she had talked to him earlier. The hurt in his eyes. She understood now. His feelings blended with hers. All those years of abuses and no one knew.

"Oh god!" she repeated. With that she covered her face with her hands and did something she thought she would never do. She cried for the Slytherin Prince.