Friday Night 1:23 am

Hermione Granger sat up in the hospital wing bed screaming. Almost immediately everyone there woke up. The paintings cried out soothing words. Then all was silent. A moment later the lights flicked on to reveal Draco Malfoy at her side holding onto her hand.

"Hermione?" he asked softly then assured her, "It's alright. It was only a nightmare."

The color slowly came back to her face and she closed her eyes biting her lip. A single tear made its way down her cheek. Draco sat down on her bed next to her pulling her into a tight hug. She hugged him back burying her face into his chest.

"It's alright," he murmured absentmindedly stroking her hair. Madame Pomfrey came in and ushered Draco back into his bed giving them both dreamless sleep potions. Then she flicked off the lights and left once again.

Saturday Morning 9:03 am

Light shone uncomfortably into Draco's face. He slowly opened his eyes surprised to find himself in a warm comfortable bed near a large window. He smiled remembering they'd finally gotten away or been rescued. No more sleeping on straw. It would not be hard to get used to a soft bed again. He sat up groaning slightly and flexing his shoulders. He winced when he leaned forward, remembering the burns on his stomach. They'd probably leave scars. Surprisingly though, he felt better than he had in a long time. He silently thanked the medical wizards and their healing potions and spells.

Finally he stood up walking over to the window. He pushed it open letting the warm spring air wash over him. It was early April, and though there was still some snow on the ground the air was mostly warm. They'd completely missed Winter during there 'stay' in the dungeons of the Dark Lord. Draco didn't mind though, he hated Winter. Too cold. Looking at Hermione he saw she was still peacefully asleep. They'd both gotten baths, thankfully, and her skin was pale from her prolonged stay in the dark. They were both horribly underweight though, something Draco had not noticed in the dimness of the dungeons.

He gingerly touched the bandage around his head and looked down to see his chest wrapped in bandages as well. Were his injuries really that bad? He moved slightly and felt a sharp pain shoot down stomach. He'd felt like he'd been getting better before, but then he had been, compared to how bad he had been originally.

Draco sat back down on the bed and glanced at the clock. It was already 9. He wondered if they'd still be serving breakfast down in the great hall. If they weren't oh well, he wasn't that hungry any way. All of his aches and pains made his appetite rather small, and he wasn't used to having lots to eat anyway.

Several clean robes and underclothing were folded neatly at the end of his bed. He pulled on the pants and switched the pajama shirt for the clean one. Then he slipped into his robe. He wished he had a wand with him, his wand was now under tons of dirt. He'd have to find time to go to London and get a new one.

Walking down the hallways Draco felt strange, as though he should be edging along the walls, and it was too bright, the death eaters would easily see him. He shook his head trying to push away and forget the awful memories and slowly the feeling of being watched and followed subsided. He shivered once then continued down the hallways finally reaching the great hall. He was surprised he still remembered the way around, but things like complicated passages that you had to remember to make it classes on time, were the kind of things one did not forget easily. Luckily there were still several teachers and students eating breakfast. He had no idea what day of the week it was, school might even have been canceled for a few days to a week or so because of the whole dungeons incident. Or it could just be a weekend. He'd lost so much time in his life. Draco realized though, that if none of it had ever happened, he wouldn't of gone through the changes he had. He'd still be the dark side rules son of a death eater bully. What was going to happen now?

As he looked around the great hall he suddenly didn't feel like eating and headed outside sitting down on the grass beneath a tree. His father was dead, who knows what had happened to Malfoy Manor? Draco pulled his knees up to his chest suddenly feeling cold. He heard the whisper of the wind in the leaves and was surprised when it startled him. He glanced around and his eyes landed on the dense trees of the beginning of the forbidden forest.

Draco bit his lip suddenly feeling the urge to run, he had to get away from here, back somewhere safe, not out in the open like this, what is some of the death eaters had survived, surely not all of them were down in the caves when the collapse happened, they could still be out there. There was still so much evil out there, it wasn't even guaranteed that You-Know-Who was dead, they hadn't seen him die. Draco stood up quickly and ran back across the grounds pushing the doors quickly and stepping inside. As the doors slid shut with a soft thump Draco breathed then leaned against them sliding to the floor. What was wrong with him? He'd panicked, like a small child, afraid of the dark. Resisting the urge to shiver he headed back up the hallways to the infirmary, he assumed he'd be staying there while his wounds healed, he could feel the scabs pulling at his skin as he walked, but the pain was so dull compared to what it had been before, he felt so much better.